Another side another story 1: No more boundaries
by AnimeNerd215
Summary: What if Ichigo wasnt a soul reaper? what if he was an arrancar instead, and the strongest one in existence at that? Told from 3rd person perspective centering around an OC, Ryu Zukami (Amaterasu now), swithcing to other characters at times. Pairings are OCxLoly, and some IchiHime later on, and now OCxRukia!. AU with Arrancar Ichigo! Rated T for freedom. On hiatus.
1. Origins and a new arrival

Bleach: Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any characters from it. Those belong to Kubo sensei. I do own the OC Ryu Zukami.

Chapter 1: Origins and a new arrival

(Hueco Mundo/Inside Las Noches)

Ryu was sitting upside down on the couch in the small room he took to calling home in Las Noches, fiddling around with one of the silver streaks in his black hair. He then started tracing the patterned grooves in his visor like mask fragment, which sat on his forehead, the flared spikes shooting up into his shaggy hair. Not like he could move it anyway. A small smile started inching across his face as he randomly remembered a prank that one of his associates, the 33rd arrancar Loly Aivirrne, tried to pull. But thanks to his honed senses it back fired. And of course the hot-headed brunette blamed him, although she practically suckered herself…

(One month earlier)

Ryu was walking towards his quarters, tugging on the jacket he wore over his slightly modified uniform. Having spent the last few hours simply wandering around and training, he had decided to just spend the rest of the day in his room. He still had a hard time dealing with the security that life in Las Noches offered. He was still used to the harsh life of the deserts of Hueco Mundo. He could remember every detail of what had happened back then, often in a horrifying way. Before being "reborn", as Aizen put it; Ryu refused to call him "lord" whenever the soul reaper wasn't in the room; as the 35th arrancar in his army, he was a low level vasto lorde, but his power even after becoming an arrancar left him with the numerous, arrancars who were leveled below the Espadas and their fraccione, even though Ryu was stonger than a decent amount of the Fraccione, by a great deal to. Due to this, he was put to working menial tasks with the Loly Aivirrne and her sister, in a sense, Menoly Mallia, the 33rd and 34th arrancars respectively. Ryu got along with Menoly well enough, he just thought she was to quiet. Loly was a different case entirely. She was always trying to prove that she was better than Ryu in every way possible. And in every stupid contest Ryu put up with and won hands down, Loly would get angrier and angrier. Ryu always found this amusing, along with her constant rants and rages. He stopped thinking when he heard something flying towards him, and promptly swatted it back. To his satisfaction, he heard a smack and Loly scream. When he saw her rushing towards him, he snapped his zanpakuto out of his sheath and caught her much shorter blade on his. Loly was covered in some kind of pulsing red slime, which was most likely "borrowed" from the lab of Szayel Aporro Grantz, the Octava Espada, and by far one of the strangest. Think "mad scientist" strange.

"If that's your idea of a prank, then you really need to work on that." Ryu said with a blank expression, stepping back and sliding his zanpakuto back in its sheath. Loly didn't give a reply, her pride obviously hurt more than she was. Strangely, the slime slinked off her and shot down the hallway, most likely headed towards its original place in the Octava's lab. Menoly came into view not long after.

"There you are Loly! I was looking everywhere until Lord Szayel told me where you went. Also, you should know better than to swipe an untested experiment from that lab!" Now, it wasn't often that Menoly got onto her sister, but it was always worth watching, in Ryu's opinion.

"Shut up!" Loly yelled. She had hidden her zanpakuto and was tugging on her skirt, trying not to do something destructive, her face turning beet red. Ryu was biting his finger, trying not to laugh.

" I guess I'll see you both later" he snickered as Menoly led Loly away. When he could tell they were out of earshot, he burst out laughing, and his merriment followed him back to his room.

(Present time)

Ryu always laughed at memories like that. He stopped laughing when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Ryu said, looking over. Menoly walked in, which generally meant some new item of business, " What now?"

"Lord Aizen has given me, you, and Loly instuctions to escort a new arrancar by the name of 'Ichigo' to the throne room. He also said show the utmost respect." Menoly stated curtly. _Fat chance of that,_ Ryu thought. He has his policies, and one of them is to never respect someone off the bat, that includes Aizen.

"Alright then, let's go." Ryu said, launching himself off the couch and executing a backflip before landing. "And yet another perfect dismount. Hey! Loly! How long you going to hide behind the door huh?"

"Bite me!" came Loly's voice from right where Ryu knew she was.

"Ha-ha! Enough chit chat! Let's go" Ryu proclaimed, taking the lead, leaving a rather shocked Menoly and steaming Loly to catch up.

(Thirty minutes later/outside guest chamber)

Ryu pressed his ear to the door after the trio didn't receive an answer when Menoly knocked. The only thing he heard was snoring.

"Sounds like he's sleeping." Ryu snickered. Boy would this get Loly mad.

" HE'S WHAT!" Loly screamed, " JUST WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS!" she then charged right through the door. _She is so dead_, Ryu thought as Menoly rushed in after her sister. Ryu sighed and followed, leaning on the door frame. His guess on Ichigo sleeping was proved correct. The guy was splayed on stomach down on the bed. From what Ryu could tell, Ichigo was somewhat taller than him, and his mask fragment covered his left eye, though the eye was still visible, and there were several black streaks on it. But what really stood out was Ichigos shaggy orange hair. Orange! Who the heck has hair that color naturally! When Ryu located Ichigo's zanpakuto, he noted that the entire thing, including the sheath, was midnight black.

"Lord," Loly practically choked out that word, " Ichigo!" she yelled. Ichigo's eyes slowly opened as he propped himself up, not registering the other three for a short time. Ryu noticed that he couldn't sense any reiatsu coming from Ichigo, which left one of two possibilities: One, Ichigo was incredibly weak, which seemed highly unlikely, or two, he was so strong it was practically impossible to sense him. Ryu went with the second option.

"Uh, who are you?" Ichigo asked, looking a little confused.

" We were sent by Lord Aizen to escort you to the throne room, sir." Menoly replied, keeping her earlier curtness, and the only one trying to show respect. Loly was obviously pissed off and had her hands on her hips. Ryu was just waiting for one good reason to respect this guy.

"Oh yeah, he said something like that. But you couldn't you have knocked?" Ichigo replied, losing his confused expression.

"We did." Loly stated angrily.

"Oh." Ichigo shrugged, but then a mischievous glint got into his eyes, "Before we go, I feel like taking a shower." He said in a joking manner, obviously trying to get Loly mad. _Well, looks like I found my first reason to respect him,_ Ryu laughed in his head as Ichigo disappeared behind the bathroom door. And that was when Loly's fuming reached its peak.

"That… that ass! Who does he think he's making wait?!" she raged.

"He's making you wait if you want me to be specific." Ryu snickered. _Guess I'm not the only one who enjoys getting her mad. This'll be fun._ He thought, wishing he could laugh out loud.

**A/N**

**WOOOOO! FIRST CHAPTER TYPED AND DONE! THIS IS MY FIRST BLEACH FAN-FICTION, ONE OF THREE TO BE EXACT, STILL WORKING ON THE SECOND, AND COMING UP WITH IDEAS FOR THE THIRD. I DECIDED TO MAKE THIS A SORY THAT FOCUSES AROUND MY OWN ARRANCR, ALONG WITH ARRANCAR ICHIGO AS WELL. I HAVE PAIRINGS IN ALL THE FAN-FICS I WORK ON, SO THE MAIN PAIRING FOR THIS IS MY OC AND LOLY, WITH SOME ICHIHIME LATER ME WITH SOME COMMENTS OR P.M'S AND ILL GET BACK TO YOU WHEN I ADD CHAPTER 2!**


	2. Advent of the Zero

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach in any way, shape or form. All characters and such belong to Kubo sensei. I do own the idea for this story and the OC Ryu Zukami.

Chapter 2: Advent of the Zero

( Las Noches/ Guest chamber)

Ichigo walked out of the bathroom in the guest room, stretching his arms and legs, getting a smug look on his face when he saw how angry Loly was.

"That was well needed. Let's get going." He said, throwing a smirk in Loly's direction that only made her angrier.

"Took him long enough. Asshole." Loly grumbled as she stalked out of the room, followed by Menoly. Ryu sighed in amusement and followed, catching up to Menoly so he could avoid the boiling Loly.

"So, what do you think of him?" he asked Menoly, trying to see her look on this situation.

"Who? Oh! Well, Ichigo seems nice enough, and he doesn't really care about respect, but I still think I should show him some. What about you, Ryu?" Menoly said, sounding a little perky.

"You know my policies." Ryu replied gruffly.

" Heh, yeah: 'Before I give respect, you must earn my respect'" Menoly quoted with a laugh. Ryu was pretty strict with his morale code and values. One of such was that he would not kill an enemy unless absolutely necessary, because he said that it was still murder, no matter what you said to justify it.

" I just have to ask, what are the perks of being an Espada?" Ichigo asked, not to any of the three in specific.

" Well, you get your own palace, your rank determines your amount of authority, and you get your own fraccione, just to name a few." Menoly explained, counting off on her fingers. Ichigo raised an eybrow at "fraccione," so Ryu decided to explain.

"Fraccione are peronsel servants, bodyguards, soldiers, or whatever their commanding Espada needs them to be." He explained.

"So are the three of you fraccione?" Ichigo questioned.

"No," Loly tookt his as her turn to speak, "Fraccione are handpicked by the Espada, so it is considered a high honor to be chosen as one."

"So none of them picked you, huh?" Ichigo said this with an expression that let off that he was thinking about something, but he quickly reassumed his normal expression.

"No, but why did you ask abou the Espada anyway?" Ryu decided to ask his own question.

"Well, I should be challenging an Espada for their rank today." Ichigo said this without any signs of nervousness. _Is that confidence or bravado talking?_ Ryu asked himself.

"Wh-which one a-are you ch-challenging?" Menoly stammered.

"I think it's the Zero Espada." Ichigo replied, tapping a finger on his chin.

"THE ZERO!" the three numerous exclaimed in shock, and maybe a little bit of fear in Menoly's case, and Ryu was seriously hoping he was right about how strong Ichigo was.

"Ha-ha! You have no idea what you're up against do you? I can't wait to watch you get your ass handed to you!" Loly proclaimed, laughing crazily.

"Oh I'm so scared! I think I might die from a heart attack before the duel even starts!" Ichigo said sarcastically, which sent Loly into another rage, and Ryu and Menoly into spastic fits of laughter.

(One hour later/outside of Las Noches)

"Well, it's pretty damn impressive how many people are here to watch this duel." Ryu mused as he scanned the crowd. He was pretty sure he saw a few of the Espada in the crowd.

"Yeah, but it's too bad that Loly wants to be as far away as she can!" Menoly snickered loud enough for Loly to hear.

"I can still hear you!" she yelled back.

"You were supposed to." Ryu muttered, annoyed at how Loly didn't get the blatant sarcasm. "Come on out here, and I promise I won't pull anything funny."

"Is that a promise!?" Loly demanded

"Yes. I do solemnly swear I will not pull any pranks on you." Ryu growled, doing his best not to sound sarcastic, even though he was. Loly slowly walked over and plopped down in between Ryu and Menoly. "Afraid you'll slide off or something?" Ryu joked. Loly stuck out her tongue in response, which caused Menoly to laugh at her sisters childish response.

"KUROSAKI!" the voice of the Decimo Espada, Yammy Llargo, who was also the Zero simultaneously because of his resureccion, broke through the crowds chatter, and a hush fell over everyone. No sooner had this happened than Ichigo appeared in front of Yammy.

"Let the duel begin!" Aizen proclaimed from his perch above everyone else.

(Five minutes later/with Ichigo and Yammy)

"COME ON KID!" Yammy yelled,launching a rapid succession of balas, lighting fast balls of reiatsu. "QUIT RUNNING AND ACTUALLY FIGHT!" When Yammy finished, his response was getting blasted by a pitch black bala that Ichigo had launched, which launched him back a good football field or two.

"Damn, I cannot get over how useful that is." Ichigo grinned. He was trying to get Yammy to go into his release form, but it seemed like it would take a lot of provoking. _Let's experiment,_ Ichigo decided.

(With Ryu and the others)

"When is Yammy going to take this seriously and release his zampakuto! Ichigo is obviously toying with him!" Loly groaned in anger.

"Whenever he idiot realizes he can't win and gets desperate." A gruff voice replied. The three numerous turned and saw Grimmjow Jaggerjauqes, the Sexta Espada.

"Lord Grimmjow!" they said, snapping into positions of attention.

"Drop the formalities for now." Grimmjow huffed. Ryu actually agreed with the blue haired Espada though. The difference between the levels of reiatsu Yammy and Ichigo had was ginormous. Ichigo didn't even have a scratch on him, while Yammy was pretty beat up.

"BE ENRAGED, IRA!" Yammy yelled his release command in rage, his reiatsu levels spiking up like a rocket. _So that's why he's the Zero,_ Ryu marveled in his head. Yammy had morphed into a multi-legged monstrosity of his former self. The only word he could use to describe him was grotesque. Ryu was so caught up in his observations that he didn't notice that Loly had latched onto his arm, in spite of herself, her fear and instincts making her find the closest beacon of safety in her eyes. Ryu had also started using an ability that was unique to him. It allowed him to move his vision to other points along his line of sight, and was watching the fight up close. He noticed what only the most observant would, that Ichigo was actually trying to lead Yammy's line of fire away from Las Noches, whereas most people would assume he was running away. After a rather failed attempt to smash Ichigo, which resulted in losing a hand, Yammy fired off a cero, which glassed a very large strip of sand. Some thought it was over, that is, until Ichigo showed up behind Yammy, charging his own cero, which suddenly quintupled in size, and Ryu pulled his vision back in time to see the cero launch, and it created a gigantic black pillar of energy, and probably made a hole to the menos forest. When the dust settled, there was no sign of Yammy. No one made any arguments: a cero of that magnitude and power at point blank range left no possibility of survival.

"H-holy shit! Did you see that!" Grimmjow voiced what everyone was thinking, a crazy grin inching across his face. Ryu shook his head to relieve himself of his shock. If you looked up shock and awe, he was pretty sure that cero would be the definition. Ryu finally noticed that he couldn't feel his left arm, and noticed Loly was clutching to him for dear life.

"Um, Loly." Ryu said, clearing his throat, still at a general loss of words. Loly shook her head and blinked before noticing what she was doing, pulling back quickly and blushing.

"D-don't think th-that this m-means any th-thing." She stammered, her face reddening even more. _Yeah right,_ Ryu thought, rolling his eyes. _But it looks like we have a new Zero. _

**A/N**

**SECOND CHAPTER UP! YAY! I UPDATE CHAPTERS AS I FINISH THEM, SO THE TIME BETWEEN UPDATE WILL BE A LITTLE INCONSISTENT. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WORK ON FOUR AT ONCE AND WRITE THEM ALL DOWNIN A NOTEBOOK BEFORE TYPING THEM. BUT WE GOT TO SEE A LITTLE BIT OF FLUFF BETWEEN RYU AND LOLY! I FIGURED THAT WOULD BE A GOOD SPOT TO THROW A LITTE BIT IN. AND LET'S JUST SAY RYU IS GOING TO USE THIS TO HIS ADVANTAGE (EVIL SMILE), ALONG WITH QUITE A LOT OF RED-FACEDNESS COMING FROM LOLY. JUST TO LET THIS OUT, THE STORY STARTED AROUND THE BEGINNING OF THE MANGA, SO WE ARE GOING TO SEE SOME SIMILARITIES TO THE ORIGINAL STORY. IM THINKING OF USING ANOTHER SOUL REAPER TO LEAD THE ORIHIME RESCUE TEAM, SO IT'S MOST LIKELY GOING TO BE ANOTHER OC. ILL SEE YOU IN MY OTHER FAN-FICS AND AND THE NEXT CHAPTERS! SAYONARA!**

**RYU: DUDE THAT WAS CHEESY.**

**ME: SHUT UP ARRANCAR PERSONALITY!**


	3. New arrangements

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc. from Bleach, those belong to Kubo sensei. I do own the OC Ryu Zukami and the idea for this story.

**Chapter 3: New arrangments**

"He can't do that!" Loly shrieked in rage at the most recent piece of news.

"Uh, technically, he can. Zero Espada." Menoly said, trying to make Loly see sense, a feat in itself.

(Ten minutes earlier, Loly and Menoly's room)

A knock on the door snapped Loly out of her boredom, and when she opened the door, her two least favorite arrancars were standing there.

"What do you want?" she asked Ichigo, and Ryu was right behind him, a glint in his silver-gold eyes that made Loly blush.

"One, to brag about how very wrong you were about the outcome of my duel. And two, the two of you, along with Ryu here, are going to be my fraccione." Ichigo responded, and stopped Loly before she could argue, "And it's not like I'm making you three my slaves or anything. Not like it's going to be a dictatorship." Ichigo punctuated his very surprising announcement by sonidoing away. Ryu put up three fingers and counted down, and when his third finger went down, Ichigo reappeared. "And you don't have the right to refuse." Ichigo gave a two fingered salute and zipped away again.

"I suggest you two pack your things and meet us at Yammy's palace. Well, I guess I should start saying 'Ichigo's palace' now, heh. See you there!" Ryu zipped away laughing as Loly chucked the nearest large object at his head before she slammed the door shut.

(Present time)

"Come on, just give them a chance! Please?" Menoly begged Loly as they made their way to Ichigos palace.

"NO! I can't stand either of them! But Ryu especially! He is just so quirkily annoying!" Loly fumed, still angry from earlier. Menoly sighed, but then she got an idea, and a mischievous smile.

"Give Ryu a few weeks, and I won't tell him." Menoly snickered. Loly's eyes widened, and her previous blush returned. Although Loly said Ryu was annoying, it couldn't change the fact he was good looking. Loly had made comments on this multiple time, but she always rebutted it with something else.

"You wouldn't!" Loly gasped.

"Try me." Menoly stated, feeling very smug for some reason.

(Palace of the Zero)

Ryu was sitting in a meditation position in the rather empty foyer, which was like this because it was pretty big. He was letting his senses reach out over the area of the palace as far as he could, even though there wasn't much to see or hear. He pulled himself back when he heard footsteps coming towards where he was. Loly barged in, her usual air about her, and a surprisingly smug/confident looking Menoly followed.

"Nice to see you two decided to show up." Ryu joked, placing his chin on his hand.

"Bite me." Loly replied, plopping down on the couch.

"Nice to see you too. Hey there Menoly, anything happen? You're looking very pleased with yourself." Ryu asked the blonde arrancar.

"No, I'm just in a good mood." Menoly giggled. _Something's up, and I want to know._ Ryu mused curiously. When Ryu wanted to find something out, it didn't take long until he found out.

"Well now, it looks like the gangs all here!" Ichigo sounded much louder than he should've in the large foyer. "First item of business, we all need to choose rooms."

"Is there anything you need us to take care of afterwards, Lord Ichigo?" Menoly asked, perking up a little.

"No not really, just do whatever. And just call me Ichigo please." Ichigo said with a sigh.

"Oh, all right." Menoly said sheepishly as Ichigo zoomed away.

"Well, I guess I'll see you two later." Ryu snickered, zipping away down another hallway. Loly watched him go, unaware of the knowing look Menoly was giving her.

"You've been awfully quiet." Menoly snickered, snapping her sister back to reality. Menoly's earlier grin returned.

"I'm going to find a room!" Loly raged, stalking off, and blushing once again.

"Is it going to be close to Ryu's?!" Menoly snickered.

"SHUT UP!"

(One hour later/ Ryu's room)

Ryu was dozing on the bed in the room he'd picked, which surprisingly didn't take him long to find. A lot of the rooms he found were empty, and Ryu had started thinking of ways to put them to use. He guessed that Yammy had just wanted a palace bigger than he was. Ryu opened one of his eyes when he heard scuffling around the door. He got up with a tired sigh, walking over and opening the door, only for Loly to fall in flat on her face.

"What are you doing?" Ryu asked his face blank, rubbing the back of his neck in annoyance. Loly looked up at him, only for her face to turn beet red and she looked away. Just to clarify, Ryu wasn't wearing a shirt, hence Loly's reaction.

"N-nothing." Loly stammered. Ryu would've cracked a joke, but he was tired, and generally a little irritated at the moment.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." He sighed, plopping back down on his bed, leaving one eye open, looking at where Loly was, and she was staring. "Do you mind?"

"Oh…uh…sorry!" Loly stammered, standing up and walking out.

"Close the door please!" Ryu growled.

"Sorry!" Loly meeped in a very out of character way. _Whatever,_ Ryu sighed in his head.

(With Loly)

Loly closed the door and clutched her chest, her heart beating like a jackhammer. _Why is my heart racing like this?_ Loly asked herself. She'd been asking herself a lot of questions lately. But she had not been expecting to see Ryu without a shirt. _He looked so… GAH! No, stop thinking like that Loly! You do not like him like that! Or do I?_ Loly had these thoughts racing through her head, feeling a little over whelmed. Loly's thoughts were interrupted by laughter, Menoly's laughter.

"Man, I love getting to blackmail you for once! This is so rich!" Menoly gasped out, bent over in stitches

"SHUT UP!" Loly screamed at her sister.

"Can you two be quiet!? I am trying to sleep here!" Ryu growled from behind his door, leaving Loly and Menoly surprised.

"Wow, Ryu is really irritable when he's tired." Menoly snickered as Loly's blush darkened, "Wow, you must really like him if you keep on blushing like that." Loly just mumbled to herself, stalking off to her room down the hall. Menoly went to her room, laughing quietly.

(The next day/ In front of Ichigos palace)

Ryu was waiting for Ichigo to show up along with Loly and Menoly, who had dozed off. Ryu swore that Loly had purposely leaned on his shoulder when she dozed off. Ichigo popped up, yawning a little. When he saw Ryu and Loly, he pointed to them, a quizzical expression on his face.

"Don't ask." Ryu muttered. Ichigo got an evil grin.  
"ALRIGHT, UP AND ATEM!" Ichigo yelled, snapping the sisters out of their doze.

"About time they woke up." Ryu mumbled, stretching his numb left arm.

"Why the hell did you make us come out here this early?" Loly said groggily.

"Training." Ichigo said, chuckling when the sisters groaned in anger. "Speed is my specialty, and it should also be yours since you are my fraccione, now let's get started!" Ryu grinned to himself, ready to see what Ichigo had in store. _Time to have some fun_, Laughed in his head.

**A/N**

**CHAPTER THREE IS FINALLY UP! DIDNT I TELL YOU THAT LOLY WOULD BE RED FACED A LOT? I AM GOING TO MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER MOSTLY ABOUT THEUR TRAINING AT THE START, AND RYU HELPING OUT LOLY AND MENOL (BECAUSE HES THE SECOND FASTEST ARRANCAR AFTER ICHIGO) I HOPE YOU LEAVE ME WITH REVIEWS AND YOUR OPINION ON THE STORY! SEE YA!**


	4. Let training commence

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: Blah blah own nothing, blah blah own the OC, and let's just get on with it.

**Chapter 4: Let training commence**

(Outside of Ichigos palace)

"We don't need training, Menoly and I are plenty strong." Loly huffed, crossing her arms and looking to the side.

"Then how come you always lose to me if you're as strong as you say you are?" Ryu muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for Loly to hear. Loly looked over at Ryu, ready to lunge at him.

"Save it for sparring you two." Ichigo said with a chuckle.

"Well, then, let's get started." Ryu said, wanting to get to business, "What do we have to do?"

"Simple: Go as far and as fast as you can with one sonido before I can catch you," Ichigo said with a slight smirk, and Ryu knew this wouldn't be easy. He'd seen how fast Ichigo could move when he fought Yammy. "3…2…1…Go!" After Ichigo counted dow, all three of them dashed off. Ryu marked off about ten pillars before he felt something grab his jacket colar and he was back where he started, Loly and Menoly right next to him.

"Well, Ryu actually managed to get pretty far before I caught him. Loly and Menoly, you two have some improvement, let's go again." This was met with groans from Menoly and Loly, who obviously thought that this would be a futile effort, Ryu just left his face blank as he contemplated how exactly this would help.

(One hour later)

Loly had collapsed in the sand, Menoly was leaning against a wall panting, and Ryu was doing his best to catch his breath. Ichigo didn't even seem to be tired. After an hour of constant back and forth, Ryu had actually managed to go a little further than each one, and from what he could tell from the other two, they were improving also, albeit on a slightly slower margin.

"Alright, to finish up, use sonido to go back and forth between here and this line right..." Ichigo dashed over to point a few yards away, making a line in the sand with his foot, "here, 300 times."

"Three hundred times! Are you crazy! That'll kill us!" Loly yelled, shooting up, showing almost no signs of having been tired before her legs gave out and she fell again

"Just pace yourselves, and when I get back tell me how far you got." Ichigo said with a two fingered salute before he zipped away. Ryu took a deep breath, straightening up cracking his knuckles.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Ryu muttered, stepping over to the first line.

"Easy for you to say, you're nearly as fast as Ichigo, so this should be no problem for you." Loly said as she stepped up to the line, followed by Menoly.

"We'll see…" Ryu said as he started.

(With Ichigo)

Ichigo stopped in front of Grimmjows palace. The Sexta had wanted a fight at some point, and Ichigo tended to keep his promises, and besides, he didn't have much to do while his trio of fraccione were practicing. But Ichigo had been surprised with Ryu, who was much more powerful than Ichigo had thought and he seemed to be able to come close to matching Ichigos speed, but he'd need more practice before he could match him.

"Hey Grimmjow! You wanted a fight right? Well I'm here now so come at me!" Ichigo declared. Grimjow came out, a crazy grin on his face.

"I thought you'd never show Zero." Grimmjow snickered with mad glee.

"Is that my new title now? 'Zero'? Hm, well, if that's what you're going to call me fine. I still prefer 'Ichigo' however." Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head.

"Zero, Ichigo, or Kurosaki, it doesn't matter to me! You're still going down!" Grimmjow shouted as he rushed Ichigo, who didn't even bother to side step. Ichigo simply swung his arm and the force of his swing sent Grimmjow flying into a nearby pillar, making it crack to about half way up.

"Well, that wasn't supposed to happen." Ichigo said with a mildly surprised look on his face. He didn't want to send Grimmjow _that_ far. Grimmjow staggered a little bit as he stood up.

"Damn you, that was impressive but it's not enough!" Grimmjow shouted as he drew his zanpakuto and rushed Ichigo again. Ichigo merely sighed and raised his hand, catching Grimmjows blade on his index finger before flinging him off in the opposite direction.

"GRIND! PANTERA!" Came Grimmjows release command from where he landed. A second later a sound wave came blasting towards Ichigo. Ichigo didn't move, but the soundwave did cause the coattails on his uniforms jacket to flip about. Grimmjow came up a second later, this time covered in armor and appearing more feline than before due to his ressureccion. Grimmjow swiped at Ichigo, but Ichigo sonido'd out of the way and sent his elbow into Grimmjows back, causing the armor to crack inwards. Gimmjow shot around and energy started to condense around his claws, and they became larger and the energy claws grew to massive proportions.

"Eat this! Desgarron!" Grimmjow yelled, launching one of the energy claw sets at Ichigo. Ichigo raised his hand and stopped the Desgarron dead before making it dissipate with his own spirit pressure, Grimmjow stood there in shock. His most powerful technique had just been stopped dead like it was nothing. Ichigo showed up behind Grimmjow and wrenched his other arm behind his back, prompting Grimmjow to yelp.

"It's done Grimmjow, you've lost. Just let it go." Ichigo said as he released Grimmjow.

"It's over when I say it's over!" Grimmjow swung around again, but Ichigo stuck his leg out and his foot his Grimmjow square in the chest, causing that part of his armor to crack in and pierce Grimmjows skin. Ichigo sent out a wave of spirit enrgy that wound up canceling out Grimmjows, and his resureccion, causing Grimmjow to return to his normal form.

"How did you…" Grimmjow marveled as he looked down at himself as his resureccion returned to it's sealed form.

"It's a cancelation technique." Ichigo clarified, "I have enough reiatsu were I can condense it and use it to cancel out someone else's. But still, that was a good fight Grimmjow. I think that if you just trained a little bit you could be much better." Ichigo finished before zipping off. Grimmjow was standing there with admiration in his face surprisingly enough.

(Back with Ryu and the others)

"Nonono! You need to focus and just go!" Ryu raged as Loly and Menoly kept struggling to finish the exercise. Ryu had finished quickly and was now helping out the sisters, who were losing their focus and kept messing up. The two had gotten up to about 200, but had started to struggle after that, and Ryu had placed himself as the temporary instructor.

"Well, is there anything you'd like to show us?" Loly mutterd, crossing her arms.

"Actually, yes there is." Ryu said, standing up, "One thing that can help is to do this." Ryu folded his hands horizontally over his stomach, "I found that this helps center your reiatsu into the center of your body, and helps to balance it." Menoly did this and started up again, finding it much easier than before.

"Ryu, can I get some help?" Loly asked, pretending like she didn't know what to do. Ryu sighed and walked over behind Loly, placing his hand on her arms to help out.

"I don't get how this is so hard for you." Ryu muttered. Loly was quite enjoying this, she liked the feel of his hands on her arms as he helped her get her hands in the correct position. A small smile edged across her face even though the moment of being close like that was brief.

"Okay, there you go, now let's see you finish this up." Ryu said. Loly nodded and dashed off. Ryu couldn't help but let a small smile edge across his face as he watched what his little lesson did pay off. _Well, it just seems this day just got better._

**A/N**

**SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT FOR THE UPDATE! *DODGES SHARP OBJECTS THROWN BYE FANS* SORRYSORRY! I'VE JUST BEEN CAUGHT UP WITH STUFF FOR A WHILE AND HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF TIME TO WRITE ANYHTING! I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AND IN OTHER FFS I HAVE! LEAVE REVIEWS PLEASE! PEACE OUT!**


	5. Old memories, new Rivals

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: Why do I always have to do this? I own nothing from bleach, those belong to Kubo sensei. I own the OC Ryu Zukami.

Chapter 5: Old memories, new rivals.

(Outside Ichigos palace)

Ichigo walked up to see Ryu and the others resting in the sand, Loly and Menoly on their faces.

"Sleeping on the job?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms.

"No… sir… we… finished." Menoly gasped, Loly propping herself up and nodding. Ichigo cocked a brow and looked over at Ryu, who nodded the affirmative.

"Well, that's impressive, all three hundred. Can any of you move?" Ichigo asked. Ryu and Menoly stood up, but Loly stayed flopped out.

"I could use some help. Ryu? Please?" Loly asked, another idea getting into her head. Ryu groaned.

"Fine, but don't use this as an excuse to order me around." Ryu said with a growl as Loly propped herself up and wiggled onto his back. Menoly giggled, seeing what Loly was doing.

"What's so funny?" Ichigo asked Menoly as Ryu started walking up the stairs with Loly on his back, who had a happy grin on her face.

"Oh, just that Loly has a _huge_ crush on Ryu and is trying to get close to him." Menoly snickered as she started walking.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked, wide eyed, following.

"Yup. I told Loly that if she doesn't start a fight with Ryu for a few weeks then I won't tell him." Menoly snickered.

"Why is that?" Ichigo asked, still confused at how the most hotheaded and temperamental of his fraccione could possibly be acting like this.

"Well, she thinks that if Ryu knows he'll never take her seriously again." Menoly snickered. Loly meanwhile, was leaning into Ryu's shoulder, and she was rather enjoying the feel of his hands on her legs.

"If you fall asleep, than you better not drool on me." Ryu said, trying to sound irritated although there was a small smile on his face.

"Oh shut up! I do not drool in my sleep! Now, take me to my room!" Loly demanded. Ryu snickered and plopped Loly down on the couch in the foyer, "Hey!"

"I told you not to give me orders." Ryu snickerd as he sat down at the opposite end of the sofa, intent on getting some sleep. Menoly came in with Ichigo, and the two of them were snickering. Menoly had just finished telling Ichigo about what had been going on with Loly over the past few days, and Ichigo had found it hilarious. Menoly started snickering even more when she saw that Loly was inching closer to a now sleeping Ryu.

"She is seriously smitten isn't she?" Ichigo snickered, starting to agree with Menoly.

"Excuse, me, Kurosaki-san?" Gin said as he walked in through the door. Ichigo sighed at Gins use of his last name and the suffix.

"What is it Gin?" Ichigo asked, turning around and facing the silver haired man, whose eerie grin caused Menoly to back away a little bit.

"Lord Aizen has an assignment for you." Gin said in his usual cheery tone, but Ichigo wasn't fooled.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, gesturing for Menoly to leave.

"You are to accompany Ulquiorra to the world of the living to evaluate the skills of a substitute soul reaper that has appeared in Karukura town. I think you'll be interested to find out who she is, but I can't tell you." Gin said, disappearing with a shunpo. Ichigo sighed and walked through the open doors of his palace. He stopped when he noticed Menoly bent over in the corner, and it got him a little worried.

"Hey Menoly, you okay?" He asked, not noticing that the fraccione was giggling like crazy.

"I'm fine… it's just…. Bwahahaha!" Menoly laughed, pointing to where Ryu and Loly were. Ichigo looked over and had to stop himself from laughing. Loly had fallen asleep on Ryu's shoulder, and there was a small line of drool going down the side of her mouth. Ryu had obviously already been asleep, or at least that's what it looked like. Ichigo noticed that Ryu had his left eye opened slightly, and a little smile edged across his face as he closed his eye again.

"I think he already knows." Ichigo told Menoly, still trying not to laugh.

"Yep, but Loly doesn't know that." Menoly said with a wink, "By the way, what did Lord Gin want?" Menoly asked.

"I've got to go to the world of the living with Ulquiorra today. Can you watch these two while I'm gone?" Ichigo said, pointing at the dozing Ryu and Loly with his thumb. Menoly nodded and waved goodbye as she trotted off to her room.

(In the world of the living)

Ichigo stepped out of the garganta with Ulquiorra, scanning around the clearing they'd come out in. _Been a while since I've been here…_ Ichigo thought, his memories trailing back to that night three months ago…

(Three months ago/ Kurosaki clinic)

Ichigo walked into his room and threw his bag down on the bed, a little steamed because of his dad's idiotic surprise attack.

"It's close…" a voice that sounded awfully close said. Ichigo looked up and saw a small girl dressed up like a samurai. He reached for the bat near his bed and whacked the wannabe be robber, if that's what she was, in the back of the head. _Oh crap_, Ichigo thought. He hadn't meant to kill her. Ichigo rolled the limp girl over and placed two fingers on her kneck. He sighed when he felt a pulse. That was good, she was simply unconscious. Ichigo heard a loud crash and dashed down stairs.

"Ichigo! Help!" his younger sister Yuzu cried out. Ichigo rushed down faster and saw Yuzu clutched by a monster, like the kind that you'd see in movies.

"Let her go!" Ichigo yelled as he swung the bat at the monster. The bat broke in half like it was a twig, leaving Ichigo in shock. The next thing he knew, Ichigo went flying into the wall. Ichigo looked up weakly as the monster approached him, having set Yuzu down. _I guess I'm done here, just get out of here, Yuzu, Karin, Dad… _Crunch….

Ichigo opened his eyes, seeing that he was still in his house.

"What the heck?" He wondered, "Why am I still here?" Ichigo looked around. His house was still destroyed, but there was no sign of the monster. When he looked down, he saw a chain connected to his chest. "What the hell is this?"

"That is called a Chain of Fate, it is what ties you to this world." A deceptively kind voice said from behind him. Ichigo turned around and saw a man in the same samurai getup as the girl Ichigo had knocked out, but he was wearing a white haori.

"Who are you? And what happened to that monster? Where's my family?" Ichigo asked rapidly.

"I can see that you're confused. You can call me Aizen. And don't worry, I took care of the Hollow, which is what that monster you saw is." Aizen said with a sickingly nice tone.

"What about my family!" Ichigo demanded.

"All in good time, all in good time." Aizen said, appearing in fromt of Ichigo and yanking the chain from his chest. Ichigo stumbled backwards, screaming in pain as he was covered by white bone armor. When the transformation was complete, there was a lizard like creature where Ichigo had been, with a hole in the middle of his chest, and a skull-like mask with black streaks on the left side, and his hair was now a mane. "Ichigo, you are now a hollow yourself, I'm going to send you to where hollows reside. I hope to see you soon." Aizen said as he opened a garganta and shoved the hollowfied Ichigo through.

(Present time)

Ichigo shook his head so he could regain his focus.

"You sense that?" Ichigo asked Ulquiorra as he sensed two oddly familiar spirit pressures. Ulquiorra nodded, not saying a word. When the two sources got close Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, "Chad? Orihime?" Ichigo hoped that his friends couldn't see him, but when he saw Chads right arm get covered in black and red armor, he knew he was wrong.

"Orihime, stay back, these two are crazy strong, I can tell." Chad said gruffly, dashing towards Ichigo and Ulquiorra. Chad aimed for Ichigo, who raised his hand in defense and caught Chads fist, stopping it dead.

"Chad? Don't you recognize me?" Ichigo asked as he stepped back.

"Can't say I do." Chad said._ How does he know my name, and why does his voice sound so familiar?_ Chad questioned in his head, but he removed the thought from his head and continued attacking. Orihime was watching Chad attack one of the mysterious people. She was confused because the scent of one their reiatsu was just like Ichigo's. Orihime studied him further and finally realized it. It was Ichigo! _But Ichigo… he… he… died!_

"Ichigo! Is that really you?!" Orihime cried out, causing Chad to stop and look at Ichigo further. Chads eyes widened in shock.

"It can't be…" Chad said in shock

"It's nice to see you two finally recognize me! How you guys been!" Ichigo said.

"Take this you bastards!" Karin yelled as she came down from high up, swinging her zanpakuto in a wide arc. Ichigo jumped out of the way, and was surprised to see his younger sister in the getup of a soul reaper and holding a zanpakuto.

"Karin stop! It's Ichigo! STOP!" Orihime yelled, trying to get Karin to stop attacking her older brother. Ulquiorra was watching Orihime, there was something odd about her. Ulquiorra decided to do a little test. He sonido'd behind the one Ichigo had called Chad and fired a point blank bala into his back, causing Chad to collapse, his right arm also had several deep gashes in it, "Chad!" Orihime yelled, getting her healing barrier ready. Ichigo was too caught up with trying to avoid Karin to notice.

"Why don't you fight back?" Karin growled, slashing away at Ichigo, who dodged each slash.

"I have my reasons. And I'm not here to fight!" Ichigo said, grabbing Karins blade and holding it back, "Look closely Karin, you know me."

"How do you… Ichigo!" Karin exclaimed, shocked at finding out her brother was still alive, "But you were… how!"

"Kurosaki. We're done here, let's go." Ulquiorra said as he opened a garganta.

"I'll explain everything in due time. See ya." Ichigo said as he released Karins zanpakuto and walked into the garganta.

"This won't be the last you'll see of us." Ulquiorra said in his monotone as he followed Ichigo.

(Palace of the Zero)

Ryu opened his eyes after falling asleep. He tried to move but remembered that Loly had dozed off on his shoulder. Ryu stuck his chin on his hand, getting a little irritated when he noticed a wet spot on his right shoulder, most likely from Loly drooling slightly._ Well, looks like that fact was right_. Ryu thought with a chuckle. Ryu stuck out his senses a short ways and heard Menoly snickering in the corner.

"Whatever you're snickering about over there is most likely about this huh?" Ryu said loud enough where he was sure Menoly would hear.

"How did you know?" Menoly said with a little pout.

"Remote senses." Ryu said, tapping his head, "Let me guess, you mad something of a bet with Loly, that, or you're blackmailing her."

"Damn, I thought you wouldn't find out." Menoly said with a snap as she admitted defeat.

"So what was it?" Ryu said nonchalantly.

"Okay, fine, I guess I can say it without any worries. I told Loly that if she didn't start any fights with you for a few weeks then I wouldn't tell you that she really, _really_, likes you. She thought that if you knew then you would never take her seriously again.

"Well, I did find out she liked me cause of… this… but that doesn't necessarily mean I'd stop taking her seriously. That would just mean I stop taking her rants about me as being honest." Ryu said with a half shrug.

"Honest?" Loly asked as she sat up, but not backing away from Ryu.

"Honest. If the two of you aren't yanking my leg, then that would mean you're recent rants about me weren't all that honest." Ryu said, putting his arms behind his head.

"Thank you!" Loly exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Ryu tightly, surprising him. Menoly clapped for Loly and a smile split her face.

"Well, it looks like this problems been solved." Ichigo said as he walked in with a slight laugh. But Ryu saw that there was something in his eyes that betrayed something.

"Ichiog, is something wrong?" Ryu asked.

"Yeah. Turns out that the substitute soul reaper I went to examine is my younger sister." Ichigo said in an almost sad tone.

"WHAT!" The three fraccione said in surprise.

**A/N**

**This chapters longer due to some of that backstory. I don't have much to say, so leave reviews please! Peace out!**


	6. Rezlizations, Revelations, and a truth

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: I still hate this, but politics demands it! I own nothing related to Bleach! All characters and such belong to Sensei Kubo! I do own the idea for the story and the OC Ryu Zukami! ARE YOU HAPPY POLITICS?!

**Chapter 6: Realizations, explanations, and a new truth.**

(The world of the living)

"KISUKE!" Karin yelled as she charged into the Urahara Shoten, Chad and Orihime following.

"Why hello Miss Kurosaki! What brings you here?" Urahara asked, acting like he had no idea why the young Kurosaki girl was at his shop.

"Skip the damned pleasantries, you know exactly why I'm here!" Karin raged, grabbing Urahara by his cloak and yanking him down to her eye level, "How the hell is my brother still alive!?"

"Oh, that." Urahara said as he flipped out his fan.

"Exlplain. Now." Karin muttered, one hand on her zanpakuto, "And tell me what happened to him. Every. Last. Detail." She continued.

"Alright. Chad, Orihime, you'll want to listen as well." Urahara said, adopting a more serious demeanor.

(Hueco Mundo/ Ichigos palace)

"How in hell can a substitute soul reaper be your sister!?" Ryu asked, dumbfounded at what Ichigo had said.

"Are you positive? Because no one can remember their life before becoming a hollow." Menoly said.

"Yeah." Loly nodded.

"Well, I do." Ichigo said as he sat down, "I haven't been a hollow for that long, so that might be the explanation. But I know it was my sister. One of them at least, which means that they survived the attack that killed me." Ichigo said this with a little bit of relief.

"Well, what else? Because I can tell that you just didn't come across your kid sister." Ryu said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, there's a lot more." Ichigo said, "You might want to get comfortable, because this is going to take a while." At that Menoly plopped down next to Loly and Ryu, and all three were ready to listen.

(World of the living/ Urahara Shoten)

"You see Karin, your brother has become an Arrancar a..." Urahara started to explain.

"What are those? Their reiatsu seemed similar to a hollows." Orihime asked, cutting Urahara off.

"I was about to explain that, Miss Inoue. As I was saying, arrancars are a higher form of hollows. They are, essentially, hollows who have removed a good portion of their masks in order to gain more power. The more powerful the arrancar, the more human they look, the more powerful they are. But even then their respective strengths can vary. So don't think that two arrancar who appear human have the same levels of power." Urahara continued.

"Okay, but can you explain as to why I couldn't sense Ichiogs reiatsu until I was right up in his face?" Karin asked.

"That, I cannot answer." Urahara continued.

(Hueco Mundo)

"Along with my sister, I came across two friends of mine from the school I used to go to, but only one of them recognized me at first." Ichigo explained. Ryu and the other two just sat there, listening intently. "And, when I saw them, I was seriously hoping they couldn't see me, but that was proved wrong rather quickly when one of them attacked me."

"Couldn't they tell how strong you are?" Menoly asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I don't think they could. Ichigo has so much reiatsu it's impossible to sense him. I could tell when I first tried to." Ryu said, shaking his head.

"So, they didn't know it was you until they saw you up close?" Loly asked. Ichigo nodded slowly.

(World of the living)

"So you're saying my brothers become some sort of high ranking hollow?" Karin asked.

"Essentially, yes." Urahara replied with a nod.

"But he seemed like he didn't want to fight us, at all. He didn't strike back at Chad or Karin when they attacked him." Orihime said, her finger on her chin.

"It's good to know he still knows who his friends are." Kain sighed.

"Yes, and I had a theory that Aizen had turned him into a hollow, but making him an arrancar was unexpected." Urahara nodded.

"Is there a way to get him back to normal?" Orihime asked, hoping that there would be a way to do so. Urahara shook his head.

"I'm sorry Miss Inoue, but Ichigos transformation into an Arrancar is permanent." He said, folding his fan and setting it down with a clack. Both Orihime and Karin looked a little downtrodden by this, "But just because he's become one doesn't necessarily mean he's a threat. You saw it today when he didn't attack you. But we have no idea if Aizen has some sort of plan that could cause Ichigo to attack us. That, and he's never met any soul reapers, and if they threaten anyone he's close to, he's bound to retaliate. Am I right, Karin?" Karin nodded to show that he was correct.

(Hueco Mundo)

"Well, I wonder what Aizen would say about this." Ryu muttered, "Oh yeah, he'd probably use that annoyingly nice tone of his and say that it wasn't Ichigo's fault, say "How were you to know that it would be your younger sister you'd have to fight?", and then 'request' that he be prepared to do "what is right, for the sake of our goal." And all that crap I hate hearing every other day." Ryu continued, "And don't even bother asking why I am blatantly disrespecting Aizen Menoly, you know how much I hate him." Ryu said, a slight tick mark forming on his head, which caused Loly to giggle a little, much to Menoly's surprise.

"Just why do you hate Aizen so much anyway?" Ichigo asked Ryu, a little curious.

"Because, the minute he gets what he wants he'll just dispose of us like trash. That's all he thinks we are anyway." Ryu muttered, his reiatsu flaring up a due to his anger. Ichigo noticed the reaitsu spike in Ryu, and noted that it rose up to about the same level as Ulquiorras. _Curious_, Ichigo thought, _wonder what happens when he releases his resureccion._

"Just how can you think like that?" Menoly asked, taken aback, "I mean yeah, Lord Aizen is cold, and at times he seems to abuse his power over us, even if it is subtly. But he's the one who helped us become arrancars. How can you not appreciate that?"

"Like I said before, you know my policies." Ryu muttered. Menoly gave a nod, and Loly responded in kind. Ichigo cocked an eyebrow, wondering what Ryu meant by 'policies.'

(Soul Society)

Rukia was walking through the seireitti, memories of the day Ryu disappeared, good memories, then followed by bad, coming up….

(Seventy years ago)

Rukia let out a sigh, brooding a little over Vice-captain Kaeins death five years ago. Ryu walked around the corner, noticing the down trodden Rukia, an idea popping into his head. Ryu snuck up behind Rukia and planted his foot on the back of her head, sending the much shorter soul reaper sprawling, her raven hair in a mess now.

"Kuchiki! What have I told you about slacking off?" Ryu declared in a slight imitation of their old vice-captain.

"What the…?" Rukia mumbled as she sat up and turned around, only to jump backwards when she saw the fourth seats face right in front of hers, "AHHHHH! RYU-SIR! WHAT THE HECK!" Rukia shouted in shock. Ryu groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Come on Rukia, how many times have I told you to drop the formalities?" Ryu said. Rukia couldn't get over how much Ryu acted like vice-captain Kaien as he leaned his head back, fake distress on his face, "Why the heck are you still brooding over that night? It was five years ago! And it wasn't your fault to begin with." Ryu continued, rubbing the back of his neck, one of his silver/gold orbs closed, the other trained on Rukia. Rukia blushed a little, turning her head so Ryu wouldn't see.

"It was my fault, if I'd stayed and fought vice-captain Kaein wouldn't have died." Rukia mumbled. Ryu sighed.

"Yes, but it would've been at the cost of both his and his wife's honor. And you know he wouldn't have wanted that. Especially if it would come at the cost of one of his subordinates." Ryu said, scooting closer to Rukia. The look in Rukia's eyes changed a little, and she zipped around and tackled Ryu. The two rolled around in a little scuffle. When they stopped, Rukia had Ryu pinned by his wrists.

"Yes, you're right, but then again, I was there, and you weren't, so why are _you_ giving _me_ advice?" Rukia asked playfully, a teasing tone in her voice as she moved her face closer to Ryu's.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe because I hate to have to see a good friend downtrodden all the time." Ryu replied, a slight smile on his face.

"You said 'good friend', you know I'm much more than that." Rukia said, starting to inch closer to Ryu.

"OHHHHH! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU!" Kiyone, one of the two third seats, said loudly, causing Ryu to get a tick mark as the moment was ruined. Again.

"SHUT IT! OR ELSE THEY'LL HEAR US!" Sentaro, the other third seat, shouted back.

"OVERLY GLORIFIED DRUNK!"

"SNOT PICKER!" The two shouted, going at each other in one of their famous arguments.

"THANK YOU BOTH FOR ONCE AGAIN RUINING THE MOMENT!" Ryu shouted as he and Rukia stood up. The two third seats came out of their hiding place in a tumble of flying fists and kicks alike. Ryu grabbed the two by their shihakushos collars, holding them apart from each other, even though the two were flailing about like hyperactive children. "IF YOU TWO DON'T CUT THIS OUT I WILL USE MY SHIKAI ON YOU!" Ryu said, about ready to actually go through with it. At that, both Kiyone and Sentaro stopped immediately, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Dragon of Zukami. Rukia giggled a little at the display. Ryu set the third seats down, his hands moving to his hips, a very angry expression on his face. Rukia wandered off as Ryu proceeded to lecture the two.

"Looks like some things will never change." Rukia heard Captain Ukitake say. She shot around and saw the silver haired man leaning on the wall, his usual kind smile on his face.

"Captain Ukitake!" Rukia said quickly, shooting down onto her knee in a gesture of respect.

"Rukia, you don't have to be so rigid." Ukitake chuckled. Rukia nodded and stood up.

"You're feeling well today, sir?" Rukia asked. Ukitake nodded and looked back at the ongoing lecture on not ruining certain moments that Ryu was giving the third seats.

"You know, I think that, in time, Ryu would be able to fill in the gap left by Kaiens death. From what I can see he's already on the right track." Ukitake laughed as Ryu proceeded to shove the third seats over to where Rukia and Ukitake were watching, and then boot them down the walkway, wiping his hands off before turning around on his heel and stalking off towards the barracks. Rukia laughed, which caused Ukitake's grin to grow larger. In the five years since Kaiens death, Rukia had rarely smiled or laughed, and Ryu seemed to be the only one who could get her too. Rukia bid her captain goodbye and went to go find Ryu.

(Present time)

A tear ran down Rukia's cheek as she remembered what happened next. She went the same way Ryu had, but when she didn't see him, she looked up and down the seiretti for him, but to no avail. He'd just, disappeared, the only trace was a bit of his fiery reiatsu in some scorch marks that were on the walkway he'd gone down. And then there was that night four months ago. She felt like such a failure.

(Hueco Mundo/desert) 

A figure in a tattered cloak was walking around the desert, breathing heavily. Underneath the hood, silver streaks could be seem amid black, and two silver/gold eyes darted around the landscaped, scanning around for any hollows that could attack. The tired and battered soul reaper Ryu Zukami stumbled into a small cave, using a kido to light a small fire. He pulled down his hood, revealing his tired expression, his face devoid of the life that it once held, and his eyes lacking the fire that used to burn in them brightly. Ryu traced the scar that ran across his chest from on top of his ragged shihakusho, the memory of watching his own inner hollow torn out of him, and then being left for dead clear as crystal in his mind.

(Seventy years ago)

Ryu stumbled out of the garagnta he'd been thrown into, his shikai out, the blade alight with blue flames at the moment. The rest of the 'sword', if that's what you could even call it in its released form, was reminiscent of an enlarged combat knife, longer than Ryu was tall, but sleeker, and it lacked the ridged back near its base, which led to the wrapped hilt. Ryu could wield the massive sword with one hand since a soul reaper could wield their zanpakuto without effort. He turned around and caught the blade of his attacker, a pale man with black hair and something reminiscent of a helmet on one side of his head. The man's face held absolutely no emotion as he attacked Ryu again and again, pushing the soul reaper back. Ryu didn't know where he was, the expansive desert holding no clues as to where he was. Was he in the world of the living? No, this place seemed to dead. That, and Ryu had been to the world of the living before, and he'd never gone to a place like this, he was positive that no places like this even _existed_ in the world of the living.

"That's enough Ulquiorra. I think he's had enough." A familiar voice said from behind Ryu. He looked around and saw Captain Aizen from fifth division as the pale man stood down.

"Captain Aizen?" Ryu asked, not sure if it really was the kind captain he knew.

"It's good to see you Ryu." Aizen said with his usual smile. He suddenly disappeared, and Ryu felt a splitting pain in his chest, and blood sprayed over the sand as Ryu dropped to his knees, "And now, I need to take something from you." Aizens voice came from behind him once again.

"What do you…?" Ryu asked weakly, his zanpakuto reverting to its sealed state in his hand, before Aizen was in front of him, his hand _inside_ Ryu's chest, before he pulled _something_ out of him, causing more blood to spray, and Ryu screamed in pain. After wards, Aizen was standing there, that sickly kind smile on his face even though there was blood on both his zanpakuto and left hand. Ryu looked down at his chest, the hole closing up, but the gash was still oozing blood. Ryu looked up, only for his eyes to widen in fear when he saw a gigantic hollow similar to a dragon in front of him, which then bellowed, even letting out a jet of black fire. The reiatsu that came off of the hollow was crushing.

"My my, this is most impressive indeed. To think, this much power inside that body. Although I'll have to put his power in check. Wouldn't want him destroying Los Noches now would we, Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra nodded, his face not showing anything, but he was obviously affected by this adjuchas reiatsu, which made no sense in Ulquiorra's mind. Ryu was to stunned and weak to say anything, and he fell onto his hands, about ready to succumb to his wound.

"And now Ryu, I must bid you, adieu." Aizen said as Ryu blacked out. The last thing Ryu saw was the dragon-hollow looking down on him with seemingly smug pride. As Ryu felt himself drifting off into unconsciousness, his thoughts drifted back to his friends in the 13 court guards, the last face he saw was Rukia's, who had a warm smile on her face as she laughed.

Aizen looked down at the seemingly dead Ryu, gesturing for Ulquiorra to follow him. This new hollow…. No…. _Ryu Zukami_ would need to further his powers before Aizen turned him into an arrancar. Aizen wasn't planning on making him an Espada. No, this new Ryu would be his secret weapon. Aizen would set in a failsafe on the strength limiter he would use on Ryu that would cause his sealed reiatsu to burst outwards once enough reiatsu was thrust his way. Of course, this wouldn't apply to Aizen, as not many could match hie reiatsu reserves, that, and the failsafe would be attuned to his reiatsu so that it _wouldn't_ go off if Aizen thrust out his reiatsu at Ryu. More like…. Head Captain Yamamato…. Yes, that was a perfect plan to dispose of the old man once and for all.

Ryu opened his eyes slowly, not understanding what was going on. Hadn't he…. Died? Ryu tried to sit up, but someone stopped him.

"Easy kid, your wounds closed up, but it wouldn't be a good idea to move so quickly." A gruff voice said. When Ryu looked over, he saw another soul reaper, which confused him. The soul reaper was taller than Ryu from what he could tell, and his shihakusho was in a ragged condition, and he wore a fur coat that had what looked like hollow masks on it.

"Wh-who are you?" Ryu asked weakly.

"Ashido Kano. And no, you're not back in soul society. If you are wondering where you are, you are in Hueco Mundo, the land of the hollows." Ashido replied, "And you are?"

"R-Ryu…. Zukami." Ryu answered, wincing from the effort of speaking. Ashido's eyes widened shortly when he heard 'Zukami.' He had no idea that this kid was from one of the noble families, albeit, one that raised its members in the rukon districts which caused them to act like commoners more than nobles.

"All right then, Ryu. Once your wound has healed, I'll start teaching you how to survive here in Hueco Mundo. But, there are some things that you will have to find out yourself. Is this alright with you?" Ashido said. Even though the kid grew up in the Rukongai, he still had much to learn about survival. Ryu nodded weakly, "Good. Now get some rest. I'll go find something to help keep your wound clean." Ashido said as he left the cave they were in. Ryu looked over at to where his zanpakuto was lying next to him. He grabbed to hilt and raised it up, sliding it out of its sheath slightly so that the blade reflected the light from the fire. _I promise, on my blade Ryuga Moeru _**(A/N THIS TRANSLATES FROM JAPANESE TO 'FLAMING DRAGON')** _that I will find my way back. I will get stronger so that I can protect those in need. This I swear. _Ryu said in his head, sliding the blade back into its sheath completely and setting it down.

(Present time)

Ryu's eyes started burning with a slight fire when he remembered what Aizen did. At first, he had thought the man to be rather kind and caring. But this only showed him that Aizen was a monster, and that he had everyone in soul society fooled. After Ryu had recovered, Ashido had started training Ryu in what he knew about how to survive in the infinite desert that was Hueco Mundo. Ryu had soon found out that traces of his inner hollow had remained inside of him when Aizen had 'extracted' it, and he'd begun to develop hollow powers that manifested themselves in a mask that Ryu could don by focusing his reiatsu. At first, Ryu could only stay in this 'hollowfied' state for a few seconds, but as he grew stronger and trained with the mask more, the time he could use it steadily increased until he could use it for up to an hour straight. But, Ashido had made Ryu promise that he would only use the mask if it was absolutely necessary, saying that he would have to rely on his own strength more than what the powers that mask offered. Ryu agreed, and he'd only had to use the mask in a fight about five times up until now, and that was whenever he came across a Vasto Lorde level hollow. Ryu had also trained himself to the level where he could access his bankai, and after wards, he bid his mentor and friend Ashido goodbye when he left to try and find a way back to soul society. Ryu knew it would take a long time, and he'd been wandering the desert for a whole decade, having spent six times as long training with Ashido and developing his powers. Ryu had one destination in mind: Los Noches. The home of Aizen and his army of arrancars. But for some reason, Ryu had actually befriended a small group of hollows, among them a small arrancar by the name of Nel Tu. Ryu found that he rather liked Nel, although she was rather childish, he found that this lifted the dreary mood that was constantly in the near lifeless Hueco Mundo, Ryu knew that getting to Los Noches would be hard, so the little group gave him a ride to the outer wall on their….. 'Pet'? Ryu wasn't sure. Ryu had bid the trio fare well and had been camped outside the wal for a few months now. He knew that a solo attack would get him killed, but he had no allies. Well, there was Ashido, but he'd resigned himself to the Menos Forest and had told Ryu that area was where he was going to stay. So, Ryu had contended himself with waiting. As Ryu meditated, he expanded the area his senses could reach out to. Just one of the abilities he'd developed along with his mask. He stopped when he picked up three unfamiliar spirit pressures, and one of them was rather out of control….

**A/N**

**YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! BEST. PLOT TWIST. EVER! HAHAHAHA! I'M SO PLEASED WITH MYSELF RIGHT NOW I CAN'T HOLD IT IN! WHO EXPECTED THAT RYU WAS A SOUL REAPER? WHO? AND WHO WOULD'VE EXPECTED THAT THE RYU WE'VE BEEN FOCUSING AROUND THIS WHOLE TIME WAS IN FACT THE INNER HOLLOW OF A **_**SOUL REAPER**_**? AND, THAT THAT SAME SOUL REAPER WAS STILL ALIVE AND KICKING? I BET: NO ONE! HAHAHA! (SORRY, I AM JUST REALLY PLEASED WITH MYSELF FOR COMING UP WITH THIS **** ) PLEASE REVIEW! PS: I AM TRYING TO DECIDE ON PAIRINGS FOR MY SOUL REAPER FOCUSED BLEACH FIC. PM ME WITH REQUESTS AND I'LL CHOOSE THE BEST AND MOST REQUESTED PAIRNGS. ALSO, IF ANYONE SUGGESTS A YAOI PAIRING IT WILL BE IMMEDIALTELY DISREGARDED. I HATE YAOI. I HATE IT AS MUCH AS I HATE TWILIGHT. BOOM!**


	7. Return of the Dragon

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Discalimer: WHY!? I OBVIOUSLY DON"T OWN BLEACH!

**A/N: THANK YOU VIEWERS FOR GETTING THIS STORY TO OVER 1000 VIEWS! THIS CHAPTERS MAINLY GOING TO FOCUS AROUND SOUL REAPER RYU, BUT ALL YOU ICHIHIME FANS ARE GOING TO GET SOME SATISFACTION HOPEFULLY.**

**Chapter 7: Return of the Dragon**

(Hueco Mundo)

Ryu walked out of the cave he'd camped out in, noticing that the three spirit pressures were now much closer, and moving much faster. _Curious, _he noted in his head as he slung his zanpakuto onto his waist. Ryu pulled up his hood as he stepped out onto the white sands, moving it far enough as to where it would obscure his face. Ryu picked up Nel's spirit pressure along with her little entourage, and the three spirit pressures. From what he could tell, one of them belonged to a soul reaper, but not one he knew. When Ryu got to the top of the dune, he saw the Sand Guardian and rubbed the back of his neck from underneath his hood.

"Does that guy ever die?" He asked out loud as he flash stepped nearby, only to step back when he heard a familiar voice and the guardian freezing. "No way, that's not..." He muttered as the guardian reassembled itself after being split into pieces. Ryu jumped up high and pulled out his zanpakuto.

"Blaze across the shining heavens! Ryuga Moeru!" He yelled as he released his zanpakuto, coming down with a dragon of blue fire as he slashed the guardian, and the fire dragon engulfed the guardian as he went through. When Ryu came out onto the other side, he moved his blade to his side with a swiping motion, and the now glassed guardian shattered into a million pieces.

"Ryu onee-san!" Nel squealed as she rushed into Ryu from behind, causing him to land on his face.

"What the heck?" a voice said from behind Ryu.

"Nel…. Can't…. breathe!" Ryu gasped as Nel held him around the neck in her crushing grip.

"Oh, sowwy! Karin-chan! Over here!" Nel said as she released Ryu, who tugged his hood back over his face.

"Nel? Who is this?" Karin asked Nel, looking at Ryu, her zanpakuto drawn.

"Easy, theres no need for a fight, I'm a friend." Ryu said, raising one of his hands.

"Yep! Ryu-nii is the bestest soul reaper Nel knows!" Nel laughed.

"Wait, I heard right didn't I? Or am I going crazy?" the intensely familiar voice said, drawing closer. When the owner got there, a smirk split Ryu's face.

"Wait, Rukia, I know that smirk, and the zanpakuto. There's no way in hell!" Renji gasped, flinching a little.

"Ryu? Is… that you?" Rukia asked, taking a step closer to Ryu.

"Long time no see, Rukia. How's it going pine-apple head?" Ryu said as he stood up and pulled down his hood.

"IT IS RYU! HAHAHA!" Renji laughed, "THERES NO ONE ELSE WITH THAT SENSE OF HUMOR!"

"YOU"RE ALIVE!" Rukia said as she rushed into Ryu, knocking him over again.

"Hey, Renji, how does Rukia know this guy?" Karin asked Renji as Uryu and Chad walked over.

"Let's just say that Ryu was, and I guess still is, a _very_ good friend of Rukia's before he disappeared. He was also the next candidate for Vice-captain in thirteenth division. But from what I can tell, he is _way_ more powerful than before he disappeared." Renji explained.

"If he was next to become a Vice-captain then he could be a great help…. If we can get Rukia off of him." Uryu said, pushing his glasses back up on his face.

"Okay, it's okay Rukia, trust me, you're not dreaming." Ryu said nervously as Rukia sobbed into his tattered uniform.

"It's really you… I thought… I thought…." Rukia sobbed.

"What? That I was dead? Yeah, I figured that." Ryu said as he put a hand on Rukias head, a small smile coming onto his face, "So, how have the last… umm… oh yeah… seventy years treated you guys?"

"SEVENTY YEARS!?" Karin and her group shouted.

"Yeah, being stuck in this damn desert takes a number on ya, although I dare say I've seen better days." Ryu said, trying to stand up, but Rukia kept him firmly in place.

"I can tell, you're at least ten times thinner than you were before, and you were already pretty limber." Renji said, before flinching when Rukia slapped Ryu, "WHAT THE HECK! I THOUGH YOU WERE HAPPY TO SEE HIM?!" Renji yelled.

"No, it's fine. I deserved that." Ryu muttered as he rubbed the spot where he got slapped.

"DAMN RIGHT YOU DESERVED IT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH AFTER YOU DISSAPPEARED ON US? I LOOKED EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" Rukia yelled as she grabbed Ryus collar and started shaking him back and forth.

"I'm afraid she's gonna kill him." Karin muttered.

"You said it." Chad agreed.

"STOP! LEAVE RYU-NEE ALONE!" Nel yelled as she started to rush Rukia. Ryu caught the small arrancar with his free hand.

"Whoa Nel, it's okay!" Ryu said quickly.

"But she was hurting you Ryu-nee! Nel had to do something!" Nel exclaimed, waving her arms around. Ryu sighed and shook his head. "So Nel, how about that ride to Las Noches?"

(Ichigos Palace)

Ichigo walked into the foyer and stretched his arms, opening one eye and snickering when he noticed Orihime chatting with Menoly. In the month since Orihime had come to Hueco Mundo and put under Ichigos care she'd quickly befriended Menoly and Ryu, although Loly seemed to see Orihime as a threat to her relationship with Ryu, which was practically in the "budding romance" stage.

"Hello you two." Ichigo said as he walked up, which caused Orihime to jump a little. Menoly giggled a little when she saw that. Ever since Orihime had arrived she'd talk about a lot of things, but Ichigo was her favorite subject out of everything. "Have you seen Ryu and Loly, Menoly?"

"Their training._ Again_." Menoly laughed, "Loly's been obsessed with getting 'private lessons' from Ryu. Although I'm pretty sure their doing more than just training." Menoly continued, snickering a little, remembering the first time she'd caught the two in a lip lock, although it _did _involve a rather bug eyed Ryu whose face put beets to shame in terms of red.

"Oh, well, they have been spending a lot of time together." Orihime said, tapping her chin and stealing a look at Ichigo, who had flopped down on the couch adjacent to the one she was on. Meoly spotted this and let out a small giggle.

"I'm going to go find Ryu and Loly." Menoly said, standing up and winking at Orihime and mouthing "Good luck." Before trotting off in the direction of the sparring ring. Orihime watched Menoly go, and her eyes widened slightly when she heard quiet snoring coming from Ichigo. Orihime giggled a little when she saw the sleeping Ichigo, finding it a little funny that his left arm was hanging over the edge on the floor. She walked over to him and crouched down, finding the peaceful look on his face a little refreshing.

"Sleep well." Orihime said, kissing Ichigo on his forehead before going to her own room. What she didn't see was Ichigo slightly open one of his eyes and smile as he watched her go.

(Hueco Mundo desert)

Ryu sat at the front of Bawabawa, Nel's pet… snake… thing. Ryu had done a little catching up with Rukia and Renji, and had become as acquainted with Karin, Uryu, which Ryu was surprised when he found out Uryu was a Quincy. Ryu found Chad to be rather interesting due to his powers, which he found oddly similar to a hollows. Nel looked back at Rukia from where she had planted herself in his lap.

"What is your welationship with Ryu-nee?" Nel asked, narrowing her eyes at the raven-haired girl.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Rukia replied, a decent blush coming to her face. Karin snickered a little.

"Seems like someone's had a crush for a very long time." She laughed quietly to Renji.

"You don't know the half of it." Renji chuckled.

When the group got to the outer wall of Los Noches Ryu stepped off, but noticed that Nel was still clutching onto him.

"Nel! You have to stay with Dondochaka and Pesche! I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous for you to come with us!" Ryu said, shaking his leg a little.

"But Nel doesn't wanna go! Nel wants to stay with Ryu-nee!" Nel screamed.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE FORMALITIES WITH ME?!" Ryu yelled.

"Nice to see his outlook on formalities hasn't changed." Rukia chuckled.

"I think that seventy years in the desert has only made him even more of a lunkhead." Renji said.

"I HEARD THAT!" Ryu yelled.

"Nope, just made his already short temper even shorter." Rukia laughed as Renji held his ears.

"Yes, putting that aside, we need to find a way past the wall." Uryu said, and his eyes widened when Ryu blasted a whole in the wall with his shikai, which was still released.

"There." Ryu muttered, "My temper is at an all-time low, sorry."

"No, it's fine Ryu. We could use someone with your skills." Uryu said. _Mental note: Don't get let Ryu's anger be directed towards me._ Uryu thought.

"Oh who cares?! Let's go save Orihime!" Karin said as she rushed in. Ryu sighed at her impulsiveness. He set Nel down.

"STAY." Ryu told the little arrancar before he followed the others.

"So, who exactly is it we're looking for?" Ryu asked Karin.

"A friend of mine, Orihime. The only thing I'm worried about is running into my brother again." Karin answered.

"Is he also a soul reaper?" Ryu asked, keeping his pace steady with Karin.

"No, you might think it's crazy, but hes an arrancar." Karin said.

"WHAT!" Ryu yelled, "How is that even possible?"

"Don't ask, it's a long story." Karin sighed.

"Heh, bet it's not as crazy as watching your inner hollow ripped out of you." Ryu said, his look darkening. Rukia saw the look on his face, and she realized that Ryu had some things he didn't want to share. Ryu was also worried about one thing: If Aizen had turned his inner hollow into an arrancar by now. Karin heard this and got her own question: _Is he a vizored? _She wondered.

(Ichigos palace)

Ryu felt a highly familiar presence. He could tell no one else knew, because it was a presence only he could feel at great distances. _So he is alive huh? Things are going to get interesting. _He thought, hoping that his soul reaper self wouldn't be so much of a weakling this time around and that he'd actually be able to fight him this time. Ryu didn't even notice that he was pushing Loly harder in their sparring session until she mentioned it.

"Sorry, just got a feeling." Ryu muttered, trying to hide the wicked grin that was forming, feeling his suppressed reiatsu surging due to the soul reapers presence.

(With the Orihime rescue team)

Ryu ran down the hallway he'd chosen to go down, having absolutely no idea where he was going.

"RYU-NEE!" Ryu heard Nel yell. Ryu looked behind him and saw the little arrancar chasing him, and she was closing fast.

"WHAT THE HELL NEL! I TOLD YOU TO STAY BEHIND!" Ryu said, dodging Nel as she sped up and nearly crashed into him.

"YOU'RE JUST A BIG JERK!" Nel bawled.

"Oh god, don't cry! Come on Nel!" Ryu muttered.

"If you let me come with you then I'll stop. And you have to give me a wide on your shoulders." Nel said as she laid splayed out on the ground, peeking open one of her eyes, and a mischievous smile on her face.

"WHAT! I'll let you come with if it'll make you shut up, but I am _not_ letting you ride on my shoulders!" Ryu said, bending over and looking down at Nel, a tick mark on his forehead. Nel started to blubber a little. "ARRRGGHHH! FINE! BUT DON'T YOU DARE USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO ORDER ME AROUND!" He yelled.

"YAY!" Nel said.

(Ten minutes later)

_I swear, I am going to kill her if she doesn't shut up! _Ryu exclaimed as Nel whooped and yipped from his shoulders.

"HO Nino! I the- wowa!" A voice with a decent Spanish accent declared, before the owner fell fom the rafters and landed flat on his face.

"Nel, stay behind me." Ryu said as he set Nel down and drew his zanpakuto out of its sheath ready for a fight.

"Hoho! I, the great Dordoni, have arrived!" The arrancar said as he stood up and assumed what look like a dance pose. Ryu raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly.

"What the hell?" Ryu asked.

"WHAT!? How could you not have been amazed by my grand entrance?" Dordoni exclaimed, flinching in surprise.

"You fell, on your face. How exactly is that 'grand'?" Ryu asked, placing his blade on his shoulder.

"AGH, insolent Nino! You dare suggest I, Dordoni, the 103rd arrancar…" Dordoni started.

"103rd? So that means you're a privaron?" Ryu muttered.

"INSOLENCE! You dare interrupt Dordoni! Prepare to be defeated by the previous 3rd espada!" Dordoni shouted, launching a kick at Ryu. Ryu lifted his arm and stopped the kick dead.

"If you used to be the previous 3rd espada then I can see why you got demoted to privaron." Ryu scoffed as he threw Dordoni across the room, "I'm worried I won't even need to release my shikai."

"I'll prove you wrong Nino!" Dordoni yelled as he lashed out at Ryu again. Ryu took the blow, and he didn't even flinch.

"Now I know I'm definitely not going to have to use my shikai." Ryu said as he grabbed Dordoni's arm, "Unless you release your own zanpakuto. But then again, it's kinda hard to stop a raging fire once it starts!" Ryu finished by sending a wave of his fiery reiatsu down the length of his arm and into Dordonis.

"AAARRGGGHHH!" Dordoni screeched in pain as he held his burnt arm. "Alright, I planned on releasing anyway! I hope you are ready to die Nino!" Dordoni said as he drew his zanpakuto and held it in front of him, "Whirl! Giralda!" Dordoni declared. Ryu raised his left arm as wind began to swirl around the room, enclosing Dordoni in a tornado.

"Ryu-nee…" Nel said from her hiding spot.

"Nel, stay back, and whatever you do, don't get involved." Ryu said.

"So, it seems that bebe holds some kind of importance to you. HA!" Dordoni said as he sent the extension on one of his twisters flying towards Nel at high speeds.

"Nel!" Ryu said as he jumped in front of the bird like extension, blocking it with his zanpakuto. When he got pushed back Ryu decided he would have to use shikai. "Blaze across the shining heavens! Ryuga Moeru!" In a blaze of blue fire the tornado was stopped dead and dissipated. Ryu held his released blade to his side and discarded of his cloak, as it was burning up from being so close to the intense flames.

"YES! HAHA! NOW I CAN FIGHT YOU AT FULL STRENGTH!" Dordoni declared.

"That's where you're wrong!" Ryu said as he shunpo'd behind Dordoni and slashed him with the large sword, the wound burning from the flames cloaking the blade.

"AGH! What do you mean I'm wrong! I heard about you Nino! You can only go as far as shikai!" Dordoni exclaimed as he clutched at his back.

"I've been in Hueco Mundo for seventy years! You don't honestly think my power hasn't grown since then do you?!" Ryu said as he launched a fire dragon from the end of his blade. The dragon engulfed Dordoni in a blaze.

"AGGHHH!" Dordoni yelled as the dragon covered him. Ryu flicked his wrist and the dragon dissipated. Dordoni fell from his high point in the air and landed with a crash. Ryu walked over to the fallen privaron as his release reverted to sword form.

"Nel!" Ryu called. The little aranncar dashed over, "You think you could heal him using your saliva like you did the day you found me? Ryu asked.

"Yessir! Anything for you Ryu-nee!" Nel said with a little salute. Ryu sighed, he really wanted Nel to stop with the 'Ryu-nee', because he just absolutely _hated_ formalities. After a bit of saliva spilling, Dordoni woke up when Nel salivated onto his face.

"WAGH! WHAT DO YOU THHINK YOU"RE DOING BEBE?"Dordoni yelled.

"Her saliva has healing properties, even if they're minor." Ryu said, placing his zanpakuto on his shoulder.

"Yep! And a lot comes out when I jiggle my uvula!" Nel said, reaching into her mouth and doing the aforementioned.

"WAGH! That is not saliva! But vomit! What sort of young lady does that?!" Dordoni exclaimed. Nel merely laughed. "Ugh, you should not have healed my wounds Nino." Dordoni said.

"And why is that? Starting to wish I'd killed you?" Ryu said, taking his zanpakuto and placing the edge on Dordoni's neck. "One thing you need to know about me: I _never_ kill in cold blood or if I don't think it's necessary." Ryu said.

"Hm. Your morale code sounds very similar to the one that a fraccione of the Zero espada follows. Tell me Nino, what is your name?" Dordoni said.

"Ryu Zukami. Why?" Ryu said. Dordoni's eyes widened.

"What! Your names Ryu Zukami? That's the name of the fraccione I mentioned earlier! Wait… How can this be! You look exactly like him!" Dordoni said in surprise.

"So Aizen turned him into an arrancar after all." Ryu muttered as he stood up. "Nel, let's go." Ryu said, and Nel jumped up onto his shoulder.

"FOOLISH NINO!" Dordoni yelled as he jumped up to attack Ryu. Ryu turned around and slashed, reappearing behind Dordoni, and Dordoni collapsed, his zanpakuto broken.

"I'll remember fighting you. Farewell." Ryu said as he dashed off down the hall way, continuing his run, intent on finding the palace of the Zero.

**A/N:**

**HI-HIP HOORAY! OVER 1,000 VIEWS! THANK YOU ALL! PLEASE REVIEW! BOOM!**


	8. Intermission

Intermission

**HELLO READERS! I WENT THROUGH THE REVIEWS PEOPLE LEFT AND FELT LIKE I NEEDED TO EXPLAINE SOME THINGS. SO, HERES A FEW THINGS THAT I HOPE WILL SATISFY SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS, OR EXPLAIN SOME GROUND RULES FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COMPLAIN. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)**

**ORIHIME IS IN HUECO MUNDO OBVIOUSLY, AND SHE WAS "KIDNAPPED" IN A SHORT TIMESKIP IN CHAPTER 6 WHEN IT TRANSITIONED TO SOUL REAPER RYU.**

**ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT AN AMAZING STORY SUCH AS THIS (THIS WAS IN THE REVIEWS) IS RUINED BECAUSE OF **_**ONE **_**LITTLE PART WITH ICHIHIME, PLEASE HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. MY MINIMUM OF WORDS FOR EACH CHAPTER NOW IS **_**AT LEAST**_** 3000, SO I HAVE TO THINK OF MORE THINGS TO WRITE IN EACH CHAPTER. SO IF THAT MEANS FLASHBACKS, SWITCHING CHARACTERS, OR EVEN ICHIHIME FOOR YOU HATERS OF THAT PAIRING, IT **_**WILL. BE. IN. THERE. **_**IT'S KIND OF HARD TO FOCUS ON **_**ONE**_** THING AND POUND OUT MORE THAN 3000 WORDS ON IT. "VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE."**

_**YES **_**I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT MUCH MORE ICHIHIME. BUT **_**NO **_**I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT OUT OF THE STORY SO I CAN MAKE A FEW PEOPLE HAPPY. THAT WAS ONLY THE SECOND TIME ORIHIME SHOWED UP, AND SOME ICHIHIME FANS MOST LIKELY WANTED A BIT OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THEM SINCE IT SAYS SO IN **_**THE FREAKING SUMMARY**_**.**

**BOTH RYUS ARE GOING TO MEET UP AND I AM HOPING IT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST BATTES IN THE STORY, AND HOPEFULLY TIE UP THINGS BETWEEN THE TWO, BUT ALSO EXPLAIN THINGS IN THE PROCESS.**

**THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY. NOW, I DO APPROVE OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRTICISM, BUT I **_**WILL NOT **_**TOLERATE PEOPLE WHO HATE THE STORY BECAUSE OF ONE LITTLE THING THAT CAN BE IGNORED IF YOU LIKE! MY POINT AND CASE? THE ICHIHIME PART IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! YOU CAN IGNORE IT! IT WENT ON WHILE ALL THE IMPORTANT STUFF HAPPENED! I PUT IT IN FOR TWO REASONS:**

**SATISFY ICHIHIME FANS**

**MORE TO WRITE ABOUT DUE TO MY WORD MINIMUM BEING SO HIGH.**


	9. Clash of two Dragons

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach in this universe. Maybe I do in some other one, but not this one.

**Chapter 8: Clash of two dragons**

Ryu dashed down the hallway he kept following, leaving scorches on the walls to mark his path. He eventually got sick of following the hallway and blasted a hole through the wall, shielding his eyes slightly when the bright light came in.

"Sheesh, I've spent too much time out in the dark." Ryu muttered. Nel shrank back a little from her perch on his back.

"Nel is scared." She muttered.

"What's wrong? You don't need to be scared." Ryu said as he floated down to the sand below.

"There's a strong spirit pressure heading straight towards us." Nel whimpered.

"Find a place to hide." Ryu said. Nel did as told. _So he decided to show. _Ryu thought. The feel of that reiatsu was all too similar to his to not be his inner hollows. The other Ryu crashed down into the sand a few yards away, his zanpakuto drawn and cloaked in black flames.

"Nice to see you finally made it." Arrancar Ryu laughed, a wild grin on his face and a crazy light in his eyes.

"Yeah, I got held up." Soul Reaper Ryu replied, letting his zanpakuto lean on his side, the cloak of blue flames intensifying.

"I had to stop a training session for this. So you better make it fun!" A. Ryu shouted as he linged at SR. Ryu, who raised his zanpakuto to block. The clashing forces sent out a huge reiatsu wave that shattered some of the nearby pillars, and two fire dragons appeared in the air.

(Aizens throne room)

Aizen grinned a little as he felt the reiatsu clash that reverberated throughout Los Noches.

"So it's begun. The dragons have clashed." Aizen said.

(Primeras palace)

"Hey Starrk..." Lilynette said, but stopped when she saw the primera still sleeping. "Man, it seems like theres a good fight going on and I won't get to watch." She grumbled.

(Sextas palace)

Grimmjow got a wicked grin as he felt the reiatsu clash.

"Little dragon got to the prey before me huh? Well, if he loses than I'm going next!" He laughed.

(Quartros palace)

Ulquiorra's eyes widened for a second at the wave of powerful reiatsu blasted through Los Noches, but only shortly. There was something all to familiar about the burning sensation he felt as it went through him.

(With Rukia)

Rukia turned around on the bridge she was on when she felt the wave of reiatsu and her face got a surprised expression when she saw the blue and black fire dragons. _Stay safe_ she thought, directing the thought towards Ryu, hoping she wouldn't have to lose him again.

(Back with the Ryu's)

SR Ryu took a step back, getting into a ready stance.

"What? Not going to talk?!" A Ryu yelled as he rushed SR Ryu again, attacking again and again, laughing the wickedly the whole time. "You wanna hear something interesting? Although I'm not an espada, I still have an Aspect of Death! You wanna hear what it is?"

"Do tell." SR Ryu replied coolly.

"It's insanity! The more reiatsu in the area around me, the less my own reiatsu is suppressed! But the only problem is, I lose control when this happens!" A Ryu laughed in an almost maniacal way as he continually attacked and was blocked by the calm and collected SR Ryu.

"White lightning." SR Ryu said, launching the kido at A Ryu. The attack connected, but he didn't even flinch as it passed through his leg. _Looks like I'm going to have to do more than this. _SR Ryu thought, getting ready to unleash his bankai.

(With Karin)

Karin ran up the steps of the building she was picking up Orihimes reiatsu from, her zanpakuto out and ready when she busted through the doors.

"Took you long enough sis." Ichigo said as he walked off of the wall he'd been leaning on. Karin raised her blade.

"Don't try and act like you don't want a fight." Karin snarled.

"What? Since I'm an arrancar I'm suddenly the enemy? Karin, you know me. I would never hurt you or any of my friends." Ichigo said, sounding a little surprised.

"How do I know you're not lying?!" Karin yelled as she dashed at Ichigo and swung, Ichigo sighed and caught her blade with his hand.

"Karin, I don't want to fight. And even if I did, you wouldn't win. You _can't _win." Ichigo said as he threw Karin back a short ways.

"Doesn't mean I can't try!" Karin yelled.

(With the Ryus)

"Bankai." SR Ryu said coolly, holding his blade out in front of him, and a pillar of white flames shot up around him.

"What the?" A Ryu said as the flames began to dissipate, but the outburst of reiatsu further loosened his control over himself. As the pillar disappeared, SR Ryu stood with his eyes closed, and now he had silver/white gauntlets, greaves and shoulder armor. The gauntlets were clawed, and in his right hand he held a white daito blade. He also had a dragon's tail and wings made out of white flames, and what looked like a crown of white fire on his head, but the "crown" flared out on the sides like horns.

"Shukei Ryuga Moeru." (White emporers dragon flame) SR Ryu said as he opened his eyes, which glowed with white fire.

"Nice bankai. I would release, but we're inside Los Noches, so I can't, too much reiatsu would be released." A Ryu bragged before he was slammed by the massive wave of reiatsu SR Ryu sent out. The amount of reiatsu released caused a few cracks to appear in the roof of Los Noches, and it reverberated through the entire fortress.

"Well then, how about we take this outside. It would be a shame to beat you so easily." SR Ryu said, his cool demeanor still present.

"SHUT UP! I don't need to release to beat you!" A Ryu yelled, charging again. As he swung wildly, SR Ryu blocked each swing with his flame tail, his face blank the whole time, having pushed any emotions that would cloud his judgment back into his mind.

"You do realize that you can't beat me?" SR Ryu said, but his words fell on deaf ears, for A Ryu had lost complete control over himself and was now attacking like a maniac….

(Arrancar Ryus mindscape)

A Ryu couldn't feel anything but empty space around him, and all he saw was darkness… everlasting darkness that enclosed and smothered him. _Guess I'm finally gone for good. _He thought, thinking of the insanity that was now devouring his whole being, the insanity that would destroy everything it saw… it wouldn't stop feeding… it would continue to spread…. And spread… and spread… and spread…

(Back in the real world/ with Karin and Ichigo)

Ichigo stopped blocking when he felt the huge wave of reiatsu blaze through the palace. _That's Ryu's reiatsu… but there's something wrong with it. _ He thought as he caught Karins blade again.

(With SR Ryu)

_Alright, this is not the same arrancar I was fighting a second ago! I need to get him outside now! _SR Ryu though. He grabbed A Ryu and blasted a hole in the roof of Los Noches, then used a flash step to bring them outside. A Ryu jumped back and then held his zanpakuto out in front of him, and the black flames started to swirl around him.

"Black flames of death that scorch the fields and turn all to ashes! Dragon Negro de la Meurte! (Black dragon of death)" A Ryu shouted. The black flames closed and formed a sphere that then exploded outwards. A Ryu now had armor similar to SR Ryus on, but it was pitch black, and he was holding two swords made of black flames. He also had wings and a tail made from balck fire, and his mask fragment had turned into a black variation of its previous version, but was now more complete and formed a horned mask (think of vasto lorde ichigos mask, but black and more dragonish). SR Ryu's eyes widened. _Not good_. He thought as he was rushed, barely being able to hold off the now insane A Ryu.

(With Rukia)

Rukia crawled forward, struggling tohold on because of the wounds she'd received fighting the 9th espada. She shuddered a little when she felt the wavering spirit pressure coming from Ryu, who she'd kept tabs on for a while. _No, he can't be losing… I can't lose him again… not again…_

(With SR Ryu)

SR Ryu staggered as he was once again pounded by black fire, blood coming from multiple slash wounds, and his bankais energy was running low. He fell to one knee, panting from near exhaustion. _There is no way I can beat him, he's too strong…_ he thought as he was slashed once again, being sent flying backwards, landing flat on his back.

"I thought you would be more fun to fight than this. You may have achieved bankai but you're still as weak as the day you were left to die in the desert!" A Ryu said as he stabbed SR Ryu through the gut.

"GAGH!" SR Ryu sputtered, blood coming out of his mouth now. _I can't lose… not here… not…. Now… not… when i… have friends… waiting… for me… _he thought weakly as the black flame blade was shoved deeper. "No… I'm… not… doing…. To… die!" SR Ryu said, struggling to speak.

"Don't you get it?! You've already lost!" A Ryu shouted, laughing insanely.

(Start playing I will not bow by breaking Benjamin)

"You're wrong! I came here to fight the _real_ version of my hollow! Not some insane ripoff who abuseis his power and has no morale code!" SR Ryu shouted, his strength surging somehow. He grabbed the black blade and _broke_ it with his hand standing up and slashing A Ryu while he was surprised. "You wanna know something?! I was holding back! My bankai isn't my full power! There's something else I'll show you!" he said, bringing his hand up to his face, and reiatsu began to condense. SR Ryu brought his hand down, and his mask appeared. It was similar to a human skull, but it was covered in black streaks similar to flames, and it seemed to meld with the now blazing fire crown. "It's time I show you what I'm capable of!" SR Ryu shouted, his voice sounded like he was talking through water now as he charged A Ryu and continually slashed him. _His insanity isn't his own, it's something Aizen put there! I have to get into his mindscape and pull him out! _SR Ryu thought as a realization hit him. He charged forward, blade to his side.

"YOU"RE SUCH AN IDIOT!" A Ryu shouted as he stabbed SR Ryu once again, but SR Ryu took the blow, his mask cracking, and he stuck his left hand on A Ryu's mask, focusing himself to go inside the arrancars mindscape….

(Stop the song if it's not done please)

(Inside Arrancar Ryu's mindscape)

SR Ryu opened his eyes, seeing that he was on a building in a place that bore similarities to the seiretti and Los Noches.

"So what brings you here to this dying world?" A Ryu said from behind SR Ryu. A Ryu was sitting down, hugging his knees to his chest, his face sad, an expression of having given up present.

"Never thought this is what it would look like in here." SR Ryu replied, noticing that his cloak was back on and that he wasn't in bankai.

"Yeah, well, it won't be for much longer. This is the last bit that hasn't been consumed by my insanity. The only reason I'm still here is because I focused on one thing." A Ryu muttered, coming close to drifting back into the dark.

"Someone who's important to you?" Sr Ryu asked as he sat down next to the arrancar. A Ryu looked at the soul reaper, who now had a small grin on his face. "I could tell you really didn't want to fight me. It was the insanity Aizen put in you that made you. There's someone you want to protect, just like how there's someone I want to protect."

"You mean Rukia don't you? I may not have all your memories, but I have a few of the important ones." A Ryu asked, planting his chin on his knee.

"Yep. To be honest, it's not just her. I want to protect all my friends, old and new. Whether they be soul reaper, human, or hollow." SR Ryu chuckled, "What about you?"

"Me? I just want to protect a good friend of mine. She may be a little hot headed at times, but still. That, and my friends." A Ryu said.

"Hold on to that. As long as you have something to fight for, you're never lost." SR Ryu said, and now he was holding a black sphere.

"What is that?" A Ryu asked as he was handed the black sphere.

"It's the insanity Aizen put in you, well, it's core at least. You decide what to do with it." SR Ryu said. A Ryu rolled the sphere in his hands.

"You know, I don't think I need it. It'll only make me hurt those I want to protect." A Ryu said, crushing the sphere in his hand. SR Ry smiled a little.

"That's the Ryu I know." He said.

"You know, there something else. I was thinking, since we're both here, I should change my last name, so we can avoid confusion." A Ryu said, his own smile coming to his face

"And what were you thinking of?" SR Ryu asked, curious.

"Amaterasu, since it means black fire, and my fire is black." A Ryu laughed.

"'Ryu Amaterasu'. Has a nice ring to it." SR Ryu laughed along. "Heh heh."

"Yep, you know, I didn't notice how much paler you are than me." A Ryu laughed.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you spend seventy years in constant night and running from crazed hollows." SR Ryu said, standing up.

"Yeah, guess that'll do it." A Ryu laughed, standing up along with the soul reaper. The two clasped their hands in a short handshake before a white light flashed….

(Back in the real world)

SR Ryu fell onto his knees, his mask shattering and his bankai disappearing. A Ryu, fell backwards, his release reverting to sword form. The arrancar opened his eyes, and the crazed light that was in them before was gone. His eyes widened and he shot up.

"Zukami!" He said, stepping over to the injured soul reaper.

"Its fine, Amaterasu, I'll heal. That mask of mine has some permanent effects. Rapid healings one of them." SR Ryu said as he stood up and rolled his shoulders. His eyes widened when he sensed Rukias wavering reiatsu. "Dammit Rukia what did you get yourself into?!" He said before dashing over to the hole in the roof and jumping through it.

"Whoa hold up!" A Ryu shouted as he followed. "What happened?" He asked as he followed SR Ryu.

"I don't know, but for some reason Rukia's spirit pressures fading! She can't be dying! If she dies on me I'll never forgive her!" SR Ryu shouted as he flash stepped off in the direction of the 9th espadas palace. A Ryu watched him go before he sonido'd off to Ichigos palace.

(With Ichigo and Karin)

"Karin I seriously don't want to fight!" Ichigo said as he dodged his little sister, who was now in bankai and moving almost as fast as Ichigo.

"Then why the hell did you kidnap Orihime?!" Karin shouted.

"I didn't kidnap her! She came here so she could protect you guys! Please Karin, you have to believe me!" Ichigo said.

"How do I know you're not lying?!" Karin shouted. Ichigo caught her blade again, "How do I know if you're the same person you were before? How do I know you're still my brother?" Karin asked, a couple of tears rolling down her face before she let her sword drop. Ichigo looked at his sister, knowing that all of this must've been hard on her. She was still just a little kid, and everything she'd gone through were things no kid her age should go through.

"I'm sorry Karin. First we lost mom and then you guys lost me. I'm so sorry." Ichigo apologized. Karin looked up at him and then ran into Ichigo, wrapping her arms around him crying into his chest. "There, there, its fine Karin. It's okay." Ichigo said as he patted his sister's head.

(With Soul Reaper Ryu)

_Dammit Rukia, you better not die on me! _Ryu shouted in his head as he ran into the palace. He looked around until he saw a small shape struggling to move, holding a broken white sword. Ryu ran over to Rukia, worry evident on his face.

"Rukia! Come on don't you be dead!" Ryu shouted as he rolled Rukia over. Her eyes fluttered open, and a tear came down when she saw Ryu.

"You're… alive. I thought that I would've lost you again." Rukia said as she moved her hand onto Ryus cheek.

"Don't you dare talk like that! If anyone should be worried it's me! I should've stayed with you, then this wouldn't have happened!" Ryu grimaced, a tear of his own falling down his face. Rukia let out a breath.

"And I thought you said you'd never cry." Rukia mused, laughing a little. Ryu chuckled and placed his hand on Rukias.

"After seventy years, you still haven't changed." Ryu said as he lifted Rukia into a sitting position.

"But you've changed so much. You're so much better than you were." Rukia smiled.

"Only because I've had to survive and been on my own. It made me realize things." Ryu said, giving Rukia a warm smile. Rukia cried a little and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, so much." She said.

"You're welcome." Ryu said as he returned the hug.

**A/N**

**YAY! GETTING GOOD HUH? DON'T WORRY, I'LL DO MY BEST TO MAKE SURE THE STORY DOESN'T START TO ROLL DOWN HILL FROM HERE. IN FACT, I WAS THINKING OF A HOLLOW RYU VS GRIMMJOW OR ULQUIORRA NEXT. WHAT DO YOU THINK? BOOM!**


	10. Dragon vs Bat, Moon vs Panther

Another side another story 1: No more boundaries

**A/N The two Ryus will only be reffered to as SR Ryu or A Ryu whenever they are both in the same place.**

Disclaimer: *sigh* I do not on Bleach in this, or any other universe. I do own the OCs.

**Chapter 9: Emperor Dragon vs. Bat, White Moon vs. Panther**

(9ths palace)

"Come on, let's get you out of here." Ryu said as he picked up Rukia bridal style and set a steady pace out of the empty palace and into the bright light of the "outside" of Los Noches.

"So willing to save those who are already lost. Why would you even bother with someone who can't even move on their own thanks to their weakness in a fight?" an emotionless voice said from behind the soul reapers, one Ryu recognized all too well. Nel ran up to Ryu from wherever she'd been, but stopped dead when she spotted who had spoken.

"Th-that's…. that's…." Nel stammered. Ryu walked over to the little arrancar and set Rukia down by her.

"Nel, can you watch Rukia for me?" he asked Nel, who nodded and gave a little salute despite the evident fear on her face. Ryu gave a small smile and an encouraging nod to the two before turning around and facing Ulquiorra, "Long time no see." Ryu said cooly, drawing his zanpakuto and releasing it wordlessly. Ulquiorras expression didn't change, he merely lifted his hand, charging a cero and firing it at Ryu. Ryu scoffed a little. _He seriously doesn't think I'm a threat does he?_

(With Arrancar Ryu)

_Man, Zukami really did a number on me. _Ryu chuckled inside his head, wondering what his soul reaper counterpart was up to as he climbed the steps leading up to Ichigos palace, nursing his left arm slightly, his numerous wounds just starting to close up. Ryu pushed open the doors, reacting on instinct and whipping out his zanpakuto when he saw that there was a soul reaper in the room.

"Easy Ryu stand down, this my sister Karin, the substitute soul reaper." Ichigo said, walking over to Ryu. Ryu slid his blade back into its sheath, wincing a little. "What happened to you?"

"Just, got into a little fight, that's all." Ryu said.

"A LITTLE FIGHT!? YOU'RE COVERED IN BLOOD! HOW IS THAT A 'LITTLE FIGHT'?!" Loly yelled as she ran up to Ryu and started sobbing into his tattered jacket. "DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN YOU JUST RAN OUT?"

"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't myself right then." Ryu said as he placed a hand on Loly's head, who pulled herself closer until the two were pretty much in the same spot.

"I did notice there was something off about your reiatsu when you were fighting. Now it's more… I don't know…. Clean, I guess, like it was tainted before." Ichigo said as he took a step back, giving the two some space.

"Ichigo? I heard some noises and…. Karin!" Orihime said walking out of a nearby hall with menoly behind her.

"Orihime! You're alright!" Karin laughed as she hugged Orihime.

"Told ya so." Ichigo scoffed.

"Well, guess some of the other espadas suspicions were right, now I'm glad I accidently followed the wrong spirit pressure." Grimmjow laughed wickedly from behind the five. Ryu shot around, but fell onto his knees as the pain from his wounds came back. _Dammit, sucks that my healing ability isn't nearly as fast as Zukamis, _Ryu grimaced. "Yeah that's right, on your knees little dragon!" Grimmjow laughed as he kicked Ryu across the room.

"GAGH!" Ryu hit the ground, a thin line of blood on his mouth.

"Ryu- GAGH!" Loly yelled before Grimmjow slammed both her and Menoly, knocking them out. Ryu tried to stand up, but clutched his stomach on where he'd been kicked.

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo yelled before he sent the sexta flying across the room.

"Ichigo! Let me deal with him!" Karin said as she pulled out her zanpakuto.

"What!?" Ichigo asked, shocked.

"Why not Zero? I came here for a fight, and your wimps of fraccione didn't even help." Grimmjow laughed evilly.

"You'd be eating those words if I wasn't wounded." Ryu snarled, standing up shakily.

"Ichigo, please. Take care of the other three while I take care of this idiot." Karin said. Ichigo nodded.

"Just take it outside." Ichigo said with a nod.

(With Soul Reaper Ryu)

Ryu dodged another cero as Ulquiorra fired them off in succession, stopping one with a fire dragon, using the smoke to rush the pale arrancar. Ulquiorra raised his arm and caught Ryu's blade, stopping the sword dead but the flames still enclosed him. Ryu pulled back as the fireball exploded outwards, landing on one of his knees, trying to catch his breath a little.

"Was that your best attempt to defeat me?" Ulquiorra asked coldly as the flames dissipated, the only sign of damage being his charred outfit.

"Far from it." Ryu snarled, lifting his blade again.

"You'll never beat using only your shikai, and from what I've heard you can't use bankai. You're going to lose, just give in to the despair and accept that you can't win." Ulquiorra droned.

"Don't believe everything you hear, because it just might be wrong!" Ryu shouted as white flames began to swirl around him.

"What's this?" Ulqiourra wondered.

"Bankai!" Ryu shouted, and the flames exploded in a massive pillar, and more cracks appeared in the roof of Los Noches, the atmosphere distorting somewhat, an effect that Ulquiorra noticed. _Impossible, there's no way he could've become so powerful in only seventy years._ He thought, somewhat bewildered.

"Shukei Ryuga Moeru!" Ryu shouted, and a massive white fire dragon exploded from the pillar of flames, and in its wake was Ryu, the slender blade he had held forward, controlling the dragon as it lashed at Ulquiorra, who fired a few ceros at the dragon, only for them to be absorbed by the fire. Ulquiorra raised his arm and caught the dragon, the impact causing myriads of the red pillars behind Ulquiorra to shatter and gigantic columns of sand to shoot up in a fan pattern. Ryu lowered his sword, expecting Ulquiora to still be standing.

"I know that won't finish you, so just come on out, I already know you're most likely wounded." He said coolly.

"You're not easy to surprise are you?" Ulquiorra said as he wiped off his shoulder, his left arm bloody from where the impact hit, "I might actually have to use my zanpakuto."

"It's not a case of 'might', more of 'need to.'" Ryu said as he appeared behind Ulquiorra, who started to turn around, before being hit by a shockwave Ryu made by swinging his sword. Ulquiorras eyes widened as he was sent flying, before he caught himself, only to be slammed down by Ryu once again. "Correction on what I last said: You'll have to release if you want to beat me, because I'm not going to kill you unless you make it absolutely necessary."

"You're just like your cocky little hollow. So smug, yet you don't see that you can keep fighting but _will _fall eventually." Ulquiorra said, trying to instill a feeling of despair in the soul reaper.

"Actually, I do know that." Ryu said as he once again appeared behind Ulqiuorra, "But that'll be the day I die, and todays not that day." Ryu slashed Ulqiourra in the back, launching the arrancar once again. Ulquiora staggered a little when he stood up. "Like I said, you'll have to release." Ryu said as he once again appeared by Ulquiorra who blocked Ryus fire tail when he swiped at him with it.

"Alright then." Ulquiorra said coldly, blasting a whole in the roof and using a sonido to go outside, Ryu followed with a flash step, ready for the fight to come.

(With Karin)

"Shine! Shainingu Getsu!" (Shining moon) Karin shouted, releasing her zanpakuto in a bright light. Grimmjow covered his eyes as the light intensified. When it died down, Karin was then holding a slim white sword that had a faint glow to it, and a shining trail of light on its hilt. (think something akin to Rukias shikai, but slightly less ornate)

"Is that it?" Grimmjow said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Getsugatensho!" Karin shouted, launching a wave of white reiatsu at Grimmjow. Grimmjow took the attack, getting launched backwards.

"Well, you've definitely gotten stronger! Good thing I kept that scar you gave me the last time you used that!" Grimmjow laughed before grabbing his zanpkauto and rushing Karin, who parried his strikes. Grimmjow sonido'd behind Karin in an attempt to use a cero, but Karin shot around and stopeed it be focusing reiatsu through her blade. Grimmjow jumped back as Karin swung at him repeatedly.

"Cme on! Quit using your shikai and use bankai already! It'll get boring at this rate!" Grimmjow said, a bored tone in his voice.

"Alright then, you asked for it." Karin said as she held her zanpakuto in front of her, "Bankai!"

(With Rukia)

Rukia watched as Ryu followed the arrancar he was fighting to the outside of Los Noches.

"He's become so much more than who he was seventy years ago." Rukia said. She noticed Nel whimpering by her and placed a hand on her head. "Don't worry, he'll come back. He always does. If there's one thing Ryu always does, it's find a way back to his friends."

"But… but…" Nel sobbed.

"I lost him for seventy years, Nel. And he managed to find a way back to me and everyone else now. I don't think I would've known he was here until he showed up and beat that guardian. Isn't that evidence enough?" Rukia continued. Nel looked up at her with a questioning look, "Ryu has said many different things, but I think the most important thing he's ever said is that no matter how far apart friends are, their bond will always be there, and they will all find a way back to each other. That's what helped me deal with losing him, because I believed that he wasn't dead like all the others, I knew all too well it was likely, but I always hoped he wasn't. So he'll come back. Just… trust him to do that." Rukia clenched her fist when she finished. Nel saw this and looked to where Ryu went outside, thinking about what Rukia had said.

(With Soul Reaper Ryu)

"Enclose. Murcielago." Ulquiorra said soundly, a burst of black and green reiatsu blasting out, and falling on the now released Ulquiorra like rain. Ryu felt the now nearly overwhelming amount of reiatsu coming from Ulquiorra.

"Interesting." Ryu muttered before Ulquiorra rushed towards him with a light green javelin of energy. Ryu blocked with his fire tail, and slashed with his sword. Ulquiorra caught the sword, but not before the flames from it launched out towards him. Ryu jumped back at the same time as Ulquiorra, skidding along the roof, slowing down by using his left hand, leaving marks from the clawed tips of his gauntlet. Ryu focused his reiatsu and intensified the flames on his blade before dashing towards Ulquiorra, who fired off a few ceros. Ryu dodged the first few, and caught the last one on his blade before redirecting it skywards. "Shiro Ryuga Hakuen!" (White Dragon fang, white fire) Ryu yelled, letting loose the massive fire dragon he used earlier. Ulquiorra lifted the javelin he held and threw it at the fire dragon, which caused it to explode. The force of the blast sent both of them flying backwards. Ulquiorra landed on a high pillar, and Ryu below.

"Guess I don't have any other choice. Twice in one day, yeesh." Ryu chuckled as he lifted his hand to his face, his reiatsu condensing and forming his mask. Ulquiorra's eye's widened, but only for about a second.

"What would this be?" he asked the soul reaper.

"What, you've never heard of hollowfication?" Ryu responded, the tone created by the sound of his hollowfied voice seemed to be mocking in a way.

"Hmph. I guess I'll have to end this quickly." Ulquiorra said as he lifted his hand and began charging a black cero, "This is our cero, the Cero Oscuras." Ulquiorra punctuated his sentence by firing the black cero at Ryu.

"A black cero huh? Guess I'll show you its opposite!" Ryu yelled, and a flash of white light came from his left hand and the white cero impacted with the cero oscuras, causing a massive explosion that shook the surrounding area.

"What was that? There's no way you could've stopped that…!" Ulquiorra started before Ryu dashed out of the smoke and slammed Ulquiorra, sending him flying.

"Will you just SHUT UP!? It's getting annoying how you keep monologueing and saying all this crap about 'despair' and things I won't listen to!" Ryu yelled as he attacked repeatedly, "I'm going to keep fighting! No matter what you say or do! I fight until the bitter end! And I made a promise that I'm going to keep! SO JUST SHUT UP!" Ryu punctuated this by once again firing one of his white ceros. Ulquiorra fired off a cero oscuras to catch Ryus attack, once again causing a massive explosion.

"You honestly think you can win?" Ulquiorra said cooly.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Ryu yelled, once again firing a white cero, but in conjecture with his Shiro Ryuga Hakuen. Ulquiorra raised his arms as the attack impacted. _I suppose I'll have to use it. _He thought as he fell to one knee. "Quit holding back. This is getting to easy. You keep using the same tricks without trying to aim for surprise. Too easy to read. I'm about ready to just leave and carry on with what I was doing before. I still don't have any reason to kill you."

"Fine then." Ulquiorra said as he stood up, a bit of anger showing through. "Time to show you true despair. "Ressurecion: Segunda Etapa."

(With Karin)

"Tensa Shainingu Getsu!" (Heavenly chain) Karin said, now in her bankai. She was now wearing a white version of her normal shihakusho, but now she had a long hooded cloak on, and her sword hadn't changed much, but the trail of light was now a glowing chain.

"HAHAHAHA! That's what I've wanted to see!" Grimmjow yelled, taking his zanpakuto to his side and placing his hand on it. "Grind. Pantera!" Grimmjow raked his fingers along the blade, and in a burst he was released.

"Awww. Whos the cute kitty?" Karin teased upon seeing Grimmjows release. Grimmjow growled at this and let out a roar. Karin didn't move, but her eyes widened a little at the force that was generated. "Okay, enough with the joking around." Karin mumbled as Grimmjow rushed towards her, lashing out with a wild kick that Karin dodged. As the two clashed repeatedly and exchanged attacks, Karin using more powerful getsugas and Grimmjow ceros, the battle started tearing through the desert environment. Shockwaves reverberated throughout Los Noches, not from the two inside, but from the two who were fighting on the outside, as they were too massive to be from Karin and Grimmjows repeated clashes.

(With Arrancar Ryu)

"What the hell did Zukami get himself into?" Ryu sighed, not thinking anyone would hear.

"Ryu, you're sure you don't wanna come back inside?" Loly asked as she walked up to Ryu, who was watching the fight between Karin and Grimmjow, but he was also focused on Zukami's spirit pressure.

"No. I'll watch what happens. It's pretty even from what I can tell, but Grimmjow's taking this way to lightly." Ryu muttered.

"You think those shock waves are coming from them?" Loly asked, leaning her head on Ryus shoulder.

"Nope. The reiatsu I'm getting from them is much stronger, and I don't say that lightly." Ryu said as he put an arm around Loly's shoulder, at which she let out a calm breath.

"Then who is it?"

"Ulquiorra and another soul reaper, one who's on par with me in terms of power, and from what I can tell they've also pushed Ulquiorra into his release. Guess 4ths in for a beating." Ryu said with a sigh.

"Haha. Guess Aizen should've made you an Espada." Loly laughed.

"You trying to get rid of me?" Ryu laughed as he turned slightly so that he was facing Loly directly.

"Now why would I do that?" Loly said with a flirty smile on her face before she brought herself closer to Ryu, "If you were an Espada, then we most likely wouldn't have met, now would we?"

"Guess not." Ryu chuckled.

**(A/N: YOU ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AND I NEED NOT DESCRIBE IT)**

(With Soul reaper Ryu)

Ryu dashed back as Ulquiorra, who was now in his segunda etapa form, fired off a cero oscuras before retaliating with one more of his fire dragons before closing in for a melee exchange. Ulquiorra parried each slash and retaliated with his own strikes.

"Why do you refuse to accept despair? It's nigh on obvious you won't beat me at my full strength while that mask is making yours dwindle." Ulquiorra said, once again trying to instill a feeling of despair in the soul reaper.

"I SAID SHUT UP WITH ALL THE DESPAIR CRAP! I told you already, I don't care what you say! I'm fighting for my friends, and I'll keep fighting, no matter the odds! So just quit with all this stupid despair nonsense!" Ryu shouted as he viciously attacked Ulquiorra again and again. Ulquiorra dashed back a far distance.

"Then I will show you a reason to despair." He said as he clapped his hands together, green energy forming between his palms, and he moved his hands apart, forming an energy lance that seemed to flame on both ends, "Lanza Del Relampago." Ulquiorra got ready to throw the energy lance, "Don't move, and don't come any closer, I would hate to hate to have to discharge this at close range." He punctuated this by throwing the lance at Ryu. Ryu grimaced and dodged, looking back as the lance continued on its trajectory, ending in a gigantic explosion quite a distance away.

"No way… if he can do that… no... I'm not going to think like that." Ryu muttered as he turned back to face Ulquiorra. "I can't give up, even if he can use an attack like that." Ryu said, taking off his mask, "I'm not going to rely on it." He decided.

(With Karin)

"Sheesh, you just don't know when to quit do you?" Karin said as she continued to exchange blows with Grimmjow. Both combatants were wounded to extents that would have caused normal people to collapse, but they kept going at each other.

"I think it's about time I end this!" Grimmjow said as he dashed back, blue energy starting to form into his desgarron, "Eat this soul reaper! Desgarron!" Grimmjow let loose the attack, and Karin stopped the first one with her sword on instinct, but it sent her flying as it dissipated. She staggered when she got up.

"Man, I seriously didn't want to do this, but I guess I don't have a choice." Karin chuckled as she raised her hand to her face and manifested her mask. "I've only got thirty minutes, let's do this." She said as she dashed back towards Grimmjow.

**A/N**

**CLIFFHANGER! HA-HA-HA! WHEN WIL IS TOP COMING UP WITH GREAT IDEAS HUH? MAN, THE EGO BOOST I GOT FROM HAVING SUCH A WELL RECEIVED WORK IS STARTING TO GO TO MY HEAD…. THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN… SEE YOU I N THE NEXT CHAPTER! BOOM!**

**BOTH RYUS: THAT'S GETTING OVER USED.**

**ME: SHUT UP.**


	11. Chapter 10: Conclusions, Dragons Fire

Another side another story 1: No more Boundaries

Disclaimer: -_- do I seriously have to say it again? Look politics, I know this is important and crap, but haven't I made it obvious I own _nothing _from Bleach except for my OC's?

Politics: Yes. Yes you have.

**Chapter 10: Dragon vs. Bat Conclusion; Death Dragons fire**

(With SR Ryu and Ulquiorra)

"Not going to use that mask anymore huh?" Ulquiorra asked in his monotone.

"I'm not relying on those powers, only my own. That's all I need." Ryu said as he raised his sword.

"Then you are truly finished. Die." Ulquiorra said as he fired a cero oscuras. Ryu lowered his sword and raised his arm, catching the black cero in his hand, which caused cracks to appear on his armor before he clenched his fist, causing the oscuras to dissipate.

"What!" Ulquiorra gasped, shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and made another Lanza Del Relampago. Ryu dashed up to Ulquiorra and swung, only for Ulquiorra to block with his lance, and a close range exchange started, with neither combatant gaining the upper hand, not matter what attacks were used against the other.

"I'll ask again, why do you refuse to accept despair?" Ulquiorra asked Ryu once again.

"I've been in this blasted desert for seven decades! Despair is the last thing on my mind! That, and I have friends here who believe in me and hope that I'll come back from whatever fights I go into! So long as they believe in me and I believe in myself I'll keep fighting. So again, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT DESPAIR!" Ryu answered, thrusting his sword forward and managing to break Ulquiorra's lance. The two stayed in the air for a short time, and Ryu slowly brought himself and Ulquiorra down to the sand.

"I thought you said you wouldn't kill me…" Ulquiorra scoffed, a thin line of blood on his mouth.

"I never said anything about purifying you didn't I?" Ryu smirked.

"What do you mean?" Ulquiorras question went unanswered as he say that he was reverting from his ressureccion and started to fade, but there was a faint light around him.

"I'm giving you another chance, you won't remember me, or anything else about Hueco Mundo. Hopefully, you can learn the meaning behind everything I said." Ryu said, his smirk turning into a small smile. Ulquiorras eyes widened when he realized what Ryu meant. "See ya." Ryu said as the arrancar Ulquiorra disappeared, knowing that now, he would be better off. Ryu reverted his bankai and sheathed his blade. _Hope to see you again, and next time, not as enemies. _He thought before heading back inside through the roof.

(With A Ryu)

Ryu had a small smile on his face when he noticed Zukami's battle finished.

"So he chose not to kill Ulquiorra, but purify him huh? Good choice." He chuckled as he refocused on Karin's battle, keeping watch just like Ichigo had asked.

"Well well, if it isn't the black dragon, watching to see which one dies first so you can pick off the other one?" A voice with a crazy tone cackled from behind Ryu, who jumped back and whipped out his zanpakuto.

"What do you want Nnoitra!?" Ryu demanded.

"Well, I did want to talk to Kurosaki about that duel, and then maybe beat you to a pulp before having some fun with the other two." Nnoitra cackled.

"Don't you even think about it! If you so much as go near them I will personally send you to Hell!" Ryu yelled, "And if not me, then I guess Ichigo will have to put you in your place."

"Like I give a damn. I'm positive I could beat Kurosaki, not like he'd ever be able to cut through this skin of mine!" Nnoitra laughed maniacally.

"Don't put too much faith in one ability!" Ryu yelled, rushing Ulquiorra, only to have his attack stopped by Nnoitra's fraccione Tesra.

"I am sorry Ryu, but I can't let anyone cause harm to Lord Nnoitra." Tesra said calmly.

"Out. Of. My. Way." Ryu growled, "Or else I'll have to show you why my nicknames the Black Dragon of Death."

"Ryu, stand down, I don't need a fight now." Ichigo said as he walked out. Ryu pulled back and sheathed his sword.

"I'm going inside." Ryu muttered.

"Yeah, run you little coward!" Nnoitra cackled. Ryu stopped dead.

"Ichigo. I've got a bone to pick. That fine with you?" Ryu asked as he turned around. Ichigo nodded.

"Oh, so you do want to fight?" Nnoitra laughed.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words." Ryu growled, usheathing his zanpakuto in a blaze of black flames. Unknown to the four outside, Loly was watching the entire thing from the open main doors.

"Stay safe." She quietly said, projecting it towards Ryu even though she knew he wouldn't hear.

(With Karin)

"You've gotta be kiddin!" This is getting easier" Karin chuckled as she forced Grimmjow to give ground.

"I'm not losing!" Grimmjow shouted, retaliating once again with ceros and claw slashes, his wounds even more numerous than before.

"If you keep this up you're gonna die! I really don't want to kill anyone today." Karin sighed.

"I'm not the one who's going to die!" Grimmjow yelled, "You're the one who's gonna die!" he continued, making another desgarron, "DIE!" Karin raised her sword and dashed forward as Grimmjow threw down both sets of energy claws, and she stabbed her blade into the one headed towards her.

"Sorry, but todays not my day to die!" Karin yelled as she slashed through the energy claw and stabbed Grimmjow while he was dazed from what had just happened.

"Gugh… blast…" Grimmjow coughed before he slid off Karin's blade. Karin caught his arm, her mask shattering. She lowered the two of them to the sand and let Grimmjow fall limp.

"Yo Karin!" Ryu's voice sounded from behind her. Karin turned around and saw the ragged soul reaper carrying Rukia, who was wounded beyond belief, Nel on his back. "Nice to see you made it out of your fight alive." Ryu chuckled.

"So says you. What kind of fight did you get into? You're more beat up than I am." Karin laughed.

"Eh hehe, I fought the fourth espada. Not fun." Ryu sighed as he set Rukia down and helped her stand up, "Are you sure you'll be fine?" he asked Rukia.

"I'll be fine, it'll take a lot more than that to keep me down now that I've had some time to recover." Rukia laughed.

"Well, I can get you to Orihime, my brothers been keeping her safe since she came here." Karin said gesturing in the general direction of Ichigos palace.

"Kurosaki! We're not done yet!" Grimmjow yelled, his voice unsteady as his ressurecion reverted to its sword form. Ryu pulled out his sword, but Karin waved him down.

"Let me." She stated. Grimmjow swung at her, but Karin caught his arm. "Grimmjow, you may be some sort of wild king who just devours everyone in his path, but wouldn't it be more satisfying to just be able to fight me again and again?"

"Shut up!" Grimmjow yelled before he staggered and collapsed, his wounds finally catching up to him.

"I'm pretty sure he's not dead." Ryu muttered before grabbing Karin and Rukia as he saw a giant blaze of black fire flew by.

"Ryu, what was that!?" Rukia yelled, a shocked look on her face.

"Long story short: Aizen extracted my inner hollow when I first came here, and now hes fighting another espada." Ryu said quickly, "But we need to get to the Zero's palace. From what I heard, that's where Karin's brother is since that's his rank. Let's go!" he said quickly as he flash stepped away with the other two still in his grasp.

(With A Ryu)

Ryu kept pressuring Nnoitra with repeted waves of fire, not giving him any chances to get close.

"What, too afraid to get close to me?" Nnoitra cackled mockingly.

"SHUT UP!" Ryu snarled, sending out another wave of fire. Nnoitra dodged again, and Ryu sonido'd behind him and slashed, but his blade stopped dead. "Dammit- GAGH!" Ryu let out as he was sent flying back by Nnoitra's elbow, flipping around and skidding to a stop.

"This is getting way to boring. You're way too weak to even make a scratch on me." Nnoitra growled.

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" Ryu snarled, removing his modified strength limiter to shoot up to his largest amount of power without having to release, which placed him at about the same level as Coyote Starrk.

"What the hell, since when were you this powerful?" Nnoitra said, his manic grin slipping away.

"I always have been, I just have a strength limiter on my reiatsu. Aizen put it in me at first, but a friend of mine helped me gain control of it, and now I can switch it on and off at will." Ryu explained quickly before starting his assault all over again, this time pushing Nnoitra back.

"How the hell can a lowly fraccione like you have so much power!?" Nnoitra demanded.

"Like I have to tell you!" Ryu yelled, swinging his sword hard enough to create a shockwave that sent Nnoitra flying. _How can this rat be beating me! A second ago he couldn't even come close without me slamming him into a wall!_ Nnoitra yelled in his head as he parried and retaliated.

"That is it! I'm done messing around! Pray! Santa Teresa!" Nnoitra yelled, entering his release.

"Sheesh, and I thought Yammy was ugly when he released… wait… he still has you beat. Especially since he's dead. Though there was nothing left." Ryu chuckled, swinging his sword around in a circle, a trail of flames at the tip forming a ring.

"Oh, so now you're laughing! You're going to regret that!" Nnoitra snarled as he charged, swinging all six of his scythe like blades in a flurry. Ryu dashed back and blocked every slash that came close. His eyes widened slightly when he felt multiple spirit pressures, and they all belonged to soul reapers. _Guess the Calvary's arrived._ He sighed.

(With SR Ryu)

"What's with the spirit pressures that just popped up?" Ryu asked as he, Rukia, and Karin neared Ichigo's palace, Nel still clinging to Ryu's back.

"What do you mean?" Karin replied.

"Yeah, I'm not getting anything." Rukia replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Guess it's just cause I have a larger range for being able to sense things. Quite a few of them a familiar. In fact, it's all soul reapers that just popped up. Multiple captains from what I can tell. And a few others." Ryu said as they reached the stair way.

"Hope they can catch up to us. What about my friends? And Renji? How are they doing?" Karin replied. Ryu focused for a minute.

"Chad's alive, but he's weak. Uryu and Renji are both fighting the same opponent, the Octava Espada judging from the arrancars strength level, and they're having some trouble, but one of the captains is heading their way, along with one of the others…. Oh damn, it's Mayuri." Ryu sighed the last part.

"Well, hopefully he doesn't try anything on them afterwards." Rukia shuddered, leaning on Ryu's arm a bit more.

"ICHIGO!" Karin yelled when the three reached the top of the stairs. Ichigo came out, a somewhat surprised look on his face.

"Karin? Who're these two… WOAH THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD!" Ichigo spat when he saw Rukia.

"Ya think?" Ryu bit. _Is this guy seriously the Zero? _He asked himself, but remembered not to judge this guy because he couldn't sense his reiatsu.

"Wait… why the heck do you look _and_ sound like one of my fraccione?" Ichigo asked Ryu.

"If you're talking about Amaterasu it's because he's my inner Hollow. Which Aizen tore out of me and as you know made an arrancar. I have the scar to prove it." Ryu sighed.

"Amaterasu?" Ichigo asked, tiliting his head slightly.

"Guess he didn't tell you that he changed his last name to avoid us having to call each other by our first name." Ryu said.

"Well, that explains a lot." Ichigo chuckled.

"Okay, enough of the small talk. Can we get my friend help or not!?" Ryu growled, a tick mark on his head.

"Wow, you even have the same temper. Come inside." Ichigo laughed, gesturing for the three soul reapers to follow him inside.

"He's nice!" Nel giggled, popping up on Ryu's shoulder.

"Karin, are you sure this isn't a trap?" Ryu asked the substitute.

"Trust me, Ichigo may be an arrancar, but we can trust him." Karin said.

"Who is it that needs help? Rukia! Oh my gosh! What happened to you!?" Orihime said, dashing over to the petite soul reaper as Ryu lowered her to the floor.

"Nothing really, just got into a fight with an espada." Rukia chuckled.

"Hold on for a second, I'll fix you right up." Orihime said, a serious tone in her voice. Ichigo walked back over, a white cloak over his shoulder.

"Here Ryu, you might want to put this on." He snickered, throwing the black trimmed cloak.

"May I ask why?" Ryu asked as he put the cloak on, clasping it around his neck and lifting the hood over his face.

"Lest just say that one of my other fraccione, two of them are girls to clarify, and Amaterasu are, ahem, together." Ichigo sighed.

"Alright. That I kind of already knew." Ryu snickered, "I wound up inside his mindscape when the insanity Aizen stuck in him started to go out of control." He explained when he saw Ichigo's questioning look.

"That's… surprisisng." Ichigo muttered.

"All done." Orihime sighed. Rukia stretched her arms a little.

"Thanks Orihime. That was a big help." Rukia said, giving a short, respectful bow of thanks.

"There's no need for that! I'm just doing my job!" Orihime babbled quickly. Ryu took in a breath quickly, then he started laughing.

"What?" Karin asked.

"Nothing much, just that I finally recognized one of the spirit pressures. Rukia, you'll be glad to hear this. It's Byakuya." Ryu laughed.

"Brother's here!" Rukia gasped, "We need to find him!"

"No can do. There's way too much fighting going on. Amaterasu's fighting Nnoitra, and that's most likely causing a ton of collateral damage. Szayel is fighting, and a few of the other Espada are prepping for a fight. The Primera, Segunda, and Tercera are all going will be going to the world of the living, and I suppose Aizen'll send for me and my fraccione any minute now. You guys can handle yourselves right?" Ichigo muttered, a finger on his head, eyes closed.

How did you find all that out?" Ryu, Rukia, and Karin said in unison, surprise obvious.

"I have a lot of different abilities. They include reiatsu cancellation, highly sensitive pesquisa with a very large range, and a lot of other things that I won't go into details about." Ichigo explained. The three soul reapers were rather dumbfounded, just how powerful is Ichigo?

"Yeah, we can make do. I've spent seventy years in Hueco Mundo so survivals not a problem. That, and I don't have any issues with helping out in any way I can. I can clear a path so we can regroup with the others." Ryu said quickly.

"And if we don't?" Rukia questioned.

"I'd prefer not to think like that." Ryu sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Alright, I'll take care of business here, and the three of you amscray and help out, but try not to kill to many arrancar's will ya? I'd prefer to have a decent population here when I take over after taking out Aizen." Ichigo said.

"What do you mean by that? Are you going to do what Aizen did?" Ryu asked, reaching for his zanpakuto.

"No. Don't get me wrong when I say that. It's just the arrancar need a leader who will look out for them and bring in some comraderie, not someone like Aizen. I already know what he plans to do to us if his plan succeeds anyway." Ichigo said quickly.

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked.

"I know this since Amaterasu said it, but Aizen plans on disposing of us arrancar as soon as he gets what he wants, so I've planned for a while now, but I kept it to myself do that problems wouldn't develop." Ichigo replied, "Now, the three of you get out of here and do what you need to."

"Gotcha. Ruki, Karin, let's go." Ryu muttred with a nod.

"Since when were you in charge?" Karin demanded.

"Since I was the one who has the same level of strength as the freaking Primera espada!" Ryu shuted. Ichigo laughed as he watched the soul reapers go.

"Yep, he definitely is Ryu's original self. Same level of power that is shooting up like a rocket, same temper, same outlook, and everything else." He laughed, "Good luck you three."

**A/N**

**My brain is so dead now. I would've kept going but I fricking couldn't think of what to do next! Not much to say. See ya.**


End file.
